THE STATES

A cinema imbroglio

RAVI SHARMA
in Bangalore

Kannada film producers coerce the Karnataka government to declare a seven-week moratorium on the release of non-Kannada films in the State ostensibly to save the ailing Kannada film industry. But the fear now is that the decision will only reopen old fissures.

IN a move that has no statutory sanction, is impossible to enforce under the law and borders on linguistic chauvinism, the Kannada Film Producers Association (KFPA) has coerced the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to "request" distributors and exhibitors to agree to a seven-week moratorium on the release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka. Since August 13, when the moratorium came into effect, simultaneous all-India commercial release of non-Kannada films were discontinued in the State. Incidentally, non-Kannada films contribute around Rs.33 crores annually to the State exchequer by way of taxes.

G.R.N. SOMASEKHAR

Putting up a "no show" board at a theatre in Bangalore on August 30.

Although the move is ostensibly meant to prevent the flooding of the 1,200 theatres in the State (200 of which are located in Bangalore) with multiple prints of non-Kannada films and rescue the ailing Kannada film industry, it has reopened old fissures in the industry, deepened the mistrust among producers, distributors and exhibitors, and given ample opportunity to hooligans to take advantage of the situation. No less than 70 theatres (mostly in Bangalore) have closed down indefinitely. If the situation aggravates, some owners plan to close them down permanently and convert them into shopping complexes. On August 18, members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike and Samara Sene ransacked the offices of the Film Chambers, the Movieland theatre and Ajai Pal Film Enterprises.

While an ineffective KFCC is looking uncertainly for the intervention of the government or the Film Federation of India in the matter, the KFPA's emotional appeal has found immediate acceptance among Kannada activists, some of whom are hell-bent on promoting Kannada even at the expense of other languages. The explanation they readily hand out is, "when Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh can give primacy to films in their respective languages, why not Karnataka?"

For its part, the N. Dharam Singh-led Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government tried to placate the powerful KFPA while giving the official impression that it is concerned with all sections of Karnataka cinema. It constituted a high-power committee under the chairmanship of K.P. Pandey, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), with representatives from producers, distributors and exhibitors, to look into the problems ailing the Kannada film industry, which employs around five lakh people. The constitution of the committee itself was in a way a decision forced on the government after the August 9 protest rally organised by the KFPA. The government was in no position to ignore the rally since it was attended by the veteran Kannada actor Rajkumar. The organisers, in a show of strength, even forced a reluctant Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to attend the rally (rather than meet him at his official chambers) and make the announcement that the recommendations of the committee would be implemented by the government in toto. While the rally drew a sizable response from the Kannada filmdom, veteran actors such as Vishuvardhan, Ambarish and Ananth Nag and Kannada film's current box-office draw Upendra did not attend it, indicating a lack of unity within the industry. Also missing were actors-turned legislators - Kumar Bangarappa, B.C. Patil, Umashree, C.P. Yogeshwar and `Mukkyamantri' Chandru.

Although the KFPA insists that the Pandey Committee passed "a unanimous resolution" calling for a moratorium, many distributors and exhibitors think it has been arm-twisted. Said H.D. Kumaraswamy, Janata Dal (Secular) legislator and president of the Karnataka Cinema Theatre Owners Association (KCTOA): "I was at the meeting and objected to the way the KFPA was presenting the facts. Non-producer members such as R.P. Odugoudar were not allowed to speak. Since the government allowed the KFPA to nominate members to the committee, it had mostly producers. We are waiting for the seven-week period to end to show that Kannada cinema will not benefit by this move." With the recommendations of the committee having no legal sanctity, the government cannot issue an order or try to enforce the recommendations. At best it is a trade agreement.

IN June 1996, following an appeal by the exhibitors, the High Court struck down an ordinance passed by the State government under pressure from film bodies directing all cinema houses to exhibit compulsorily Kannada films for 12 weeks in a year The KFPA is seeking re-imposition of the ordinance.

Given the geographic location of the State, Kannada cinema has to compete with films in other languages for a piece of the shrinking audience pie. In no other State are films in four or even five languages released simultaneously. While on an average not even two Kannada films are released every week, the Tamil and Telugu industries manage to release at least four films each every week.

Compounding this multi-language release is the shrinking number of theatres. Karnataka has around 1,200 theatres, ranging from multiplexes to touring tents Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have close to 2,500 theatres each. But the high-end theatres, given the huge rents (Santosh in Bangalore, for example, charges Rs.2.25 lakhs a week) are out of bounds for cash-strapped Kannada films, whose producers would like theatres to exhibit films on a percentage basis. Theatre owners are not prepared for this since other language films are ready for rental agreements.

K. BHAGYAPRAKASH

Actor Rajkumar at the rally in Bangalore called to demand a seven-week moratorium on the release of non-Kannada films.

Moreover, Kannada films are made on small budgets. Many a time the pre-release budget of a Hindi blockbuster is more than the budget of an entire Kannada film.

Audience preference has also shown that while Kannadigas see non-Kannada films, very rarely do non-Kannadigas go to a theatre to see a Kannada film. Also, while English and Hindi films have a substantial audience in Bangalore (where Kannadigas constitute hardly 33 per cent of the population), Tamil films have a huge fan following in Bangalore and many semi-urban pockets, especially those bordering Tamil Nadu. Telugu films are a runaway hit in the areas bordering Andhra Pradesh and some parts of old Mysore. In Bellary, Telugu film buffs force theatre owners to screen new releases the minute the film boxes land at the railway station, irrespective of the time of the day. The moratorium has forced film fans in Bellary and its vicinity to cross the border to Adoni, Guntakal or Anantapur in order to see the latest Telugu releases. Enterprising bus operators in Bangalore offer for a fee tickets to Tamil films screened in the border town of Hosur in Tamil Nadu along with bus tickets to diehard Tamil film fans.

The moratorium has naturally not gone down well with distributors and exhibitors who term it illegal and violative of the fundamental right to run their businesses and the audience's right to decide what language films they would like to patronise. A delegation led by Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, which included Bollywood film personalities such as Jaya Bachchan, Yash Chopra and Amit Khanna, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy on August 27 to apprise them of the situation. The delayed release has given a fillip to the illegal trade in pirated compact discs (CDs).

But the KFPA is hardly worried about such issues since it is more concerned about the survival of Kannada films. Its president Basanthkumar Patil said: "We are only trying to implement a 1996 decision, which clearly stated, that `Other language cinemas shall be released only after a gap of seven weeks from the date of their first public screening in the respective States.' Distributors also agreed that only four prints (an additional two in extraordinary cases) of any film would be released. But some exhibitors and distributors ignored the agreement and pushed even 20 prints of non-Kannada films, particularly Telugu films. This has affected Kannada films even in the interior areas. The Chamber has been ineffective in curbing this and some executive committee members are even promoting this practice." He also claimed that many exhibitors were defrauding the government by surreptitiously showing non-Kannada films but displaying a Kannada film poster. "Thirty-six theatres are in the red list of the government for this fraud. The government has recommended that their licences be cancelled," he said.

K.C.N. Chandrashekar, a former president of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, said: "Some distributors have taken advantage of the Chamber's lenience and created an unhealthy competition. This has resulted in Kannada films being denied play time. Some distributors even violated the trade agreement of four prints challenging the Chamber's rulings either by bringing political pressure or by releasing the film in the name of some powerful politician."

The award-winning director Girish Kasaravalli said: "This decision is needed. You can't look at it from the point of view of those who are benefiting, but from the point of view of those who are suffering. Regional cinema and regional markets have to be protected. Otherwise, like the Brazilian film industry, which was eaten away by Hollywood interests, the Kannada film industry will also disappear. It will go the way of the Bhojpuri, Assamese or Manipuri film industry. The monopoly of other cultures is gaining ground over Kannada. In the 1970s and 1980s we had prominent distributors exclusively for Kannada films. Now they are distributing other language films as well. They spend crores of rupees to obtain the rights of Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films so even one flop means that 10 Kannada film releases are held up."

According to S.V. Rajendra Singh, president of the Karnataka Film Directors Association, every time a Shah Rukh Khan (Hindi), Hrithik Roshan (Hindi), Chiranjeevi (Telugu) or Vijay (Tamil) movie is released the collections for Kannada cinema goes down drastically. "Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films have their own territories. Why can't they sacrifice this territory for seven weeks. We also want to grow. While the Telugu industry is making films even costing Rs.25 crores and has moved on to 300 prints for some films, we are still doing films with a budget of Rs.4 crores and running 12 prints. Finance is also a problem. Since we are not an industry we can get no institutional finance. "

T.S. Nagabharana, one of Kannada cinema's leading directors, said: "Theatres must cater to the Kannada language, not become pockets for other languages. They could have exhibited Kannada films at least for the morning shows. Exhibitors and distributors say that there is no audience for Kannada films. But given that many theatres have become Tamil-, Hindi- or Telugu-oriented pockets, how will people even know when a Kannada film is shown? The moratorium will give some breathing time to Kannada cinema. If a non-Kannada film is so good, let it run after seven weeks. It will still have audience."

This, according to Bhoopalan P. Ashok, a partner of Abhinay theatre, is unlikely to happen. "When there is a simultaneous release we benefit from pre-release publicity, advertisements, among other things. With the seven-weeks rule, there will be no collections. Pirated CDs of the newly released Hindi film Kyun! Ho Gaya Na are already available. We are ready to run Kannada films just as long as they pay our rents. They don't even supply prints to us."

There is no doubt that the Kannada film industry is in the doldrums and needs rescuing, but doing it at the expense of other language films is unacceptable to many film personalities, including playwright and Jnanpith Award winner Girish Karnad. He said: "It shows a complete lack of confidence among members of the Kannada film industry. You can't run your cinema by keeping other languages out. The industry has to stand on its own feet. This kind of propping up won't do. The government can give better production facilities or subsidise the costs... but this decision is unacceptable."

The government already has a scheme under which good Kannada films are given a subsidy of Rs.10 lakhs each. Besides, it also gives Rs.20 lakhs for films that win a national award. The KFPA wants all Kannada films to be given a subsidy of Rs.5 lakhs each. Kannada films also enjoy a 100 per cent entertainment tax exemption compared with the 40 per cent (down from 70 per cent) that other language films pay. They also pay lower show tax (Rs.95 a show as compared to Rs.235 for non-Kannada films). The KFPA wants this to be abolished.

Kavitha Lankesh, whose Preeti, Prema, Pranaya recently won the national award for the best regional film, says: "This decision is ridiculous. You can't protect art or coerce people to go and watch Kannada films."

In the 1970s and 1980s, Kannada films were the envy of other language producers and directors with stalwarts like Puttana Kanagal, G.V. Iyer, B.V. Karanth, Girish Karnad, Chandrashekar Kambar, Kasaravalli, N. Lakshminarayan, Dorai Bagwan and Rajendra Singh making memorable movies such as Chomana Dudi, Vamsha Vriksha , Kadu, Ghatashraddha, Hamsageethe, Nagara Havu, Bangarada Manushya and Nagarahole. But the quality of Kannada cinema suffered in the last decade. Today a producer merely wants exotic foreign locales and glamorous starlets to prop up his film. Script, technical brilliance, content and social relevance are given the go by.

Said Karnad: "It is a peculiar situation in Karnataka. I acted in Ananda Bhairavi, which was made in both Telugu and Kannada. While the Telugu version was a super hit, the Kannada version flopped. It is hard to explain why. But the quality has to improve."

Faced with dwindling and indifferent audiences, a cash crunch and the inability to channel available talent, a spat among producers, distributors and exhibitors is the last thing that the Karnataka film industry wants. But that is exactly what is happening. With rival politicians Kumaraswamy and S. Ramesh, the current president of the KFCC, eying the same pie, the issue may not settle down quickly. Queering the pitch further is the game of one-upmanship played by the camps headed by Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Ravichandran and Upendra. Informed sources pointed out that the domination of Rajkumar was a thing of the past and that his camp should accept this. But with his son Shivrajkumar's films flopping at the box office (18 out of 20, according to industry watchers) this is easier said than done. The one-upmanship between producers recently resulted in Kavitha Lankesh's award-winning movie being unceremoniously removed from a theatre to accommodate a Shivrajkumar movie.

In a bid to find a way out of the imbroglio, the KFCC is trying to work out a formula whereby a maximum of six or eight prints are allowed for non-Kannada films, with any violation made punishable. It is to be seen whether the KFPA will reconsider its decision.

The issue promises to get dirtier with the KFPA warning that it will not be responsible for any damage caused to cinema houses or film prints of persons violating the moratorium. Audiences are left with no choice but to take bus rides to the neighbouring States.

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