Kannada Films vs Non Kannada Films

2004-11-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

For the last couple of months there is a raging debate on Kannada and non Kannada films. Kannada film producers want a protected market to play with. Their claim is that that Kannada films cannot compete with the other language films. Hence they wanted to protect the interest of Kannada films by delaying the release on the other language films by three weeks, where as their earlier demand was for seven weeks. But the other language film producers claim that it defies the constitutional rights of denying a person to see the other language movies.

If we look at these issues holistically, both the sides seem to have valid arguments. First let us look at the other language films producers� argument. Yes in the era of globalization where there is no boundary it defies logic to prevent some one from seeing what he wants. But if economic point of view it is all about money matters .The Hindi ,telugu ,Tamil people look at Karnataka as a bonus market ,where the can make some extra bucks. Also they are resorting to some unethical acts like flooding the markets with many prints of every release, aka chiniese, who have done so in the manufacturing world. But in India language is an emotional issue, the constitution has itself upheld the languages sanctity by forming the states based on the linguistic majority. So obviously language of the state should be promoted. It is all about the big brother attitude when a bigger and more powerful (read one with economic clout) tries to dominate the smaller players. What is happening to Kannada film industry may happen to Tamil, Telugu and Hindi against the might of Hollywood industry? Even though India makes highest number of movies every year, it is just numbers and not the quality. Indian movies still cannot compete with the Hollywood movies in terms of budget nor the finesse .Also not even one Indian movie has won an Oscar. Again you may argue that we need not make movies attuned to the western psyche just for Oscars. But this argument also does not hold good as we look at story line of most of the movies which are mainly catered for the western oriented audience.

About the Kannada film industry, the less the said the better. It marks the fragmentation and myopic outlook of the Kannada moviedom. Always looking for tax concession and trying to lower the bar for competition. But I think even with the three weeks moratorium, Kannada moviedom can clean up its acts. Having a protected market is stupidest thing anyone should look for. Look at our Public sector units, all along the Neharuvian times they were nurtured with subsidies and protectionism. But if we look at them now, most of them have turned sick and have to be sold out to bail them out of the debts. So protectionism may have benefits in short terms but will never bear fruit in a long run.

The solutions for Kannada films lie with them itself, to produce better quality movies and to move on with the times. Cinema being a creative fields, it is has to be nourished not through the tax concessions and sops, but similar to nourishing literature or arts. What the government can do is give helping hand in nourishing the budding talents. By opening up the film institutes, conducting workshops which train the people in the intricacies of cinema. Also it will do a world of good if the Kannada film industry is recognizes as an industry. This will free the producers from the hands of the financiers. So all the it needs to do is to streamline the organization. Kannada films have run for 3 to 4 months repeatedly and have proven that Kannada film industry does not lack talent, but it is the power to deliver the quality which is the need of the hour.

In the world where the people have access to information all around the world and with choices available it would be impossible to rein the people choices. Last but not the least what Kannada film industry should not forget is that it is all market driven economy. A distributor or a theatre owner will show a movie only if it returns the investment he has made. A person will watch a movie only if he wants to watch a movie and nobody can force him. With the choice of other language films available which gives a better fare it will difficult to coerce a viewer .So at the end of the day the power to sustain is not with the government, nor the producers, but with the viewers which will see the Kannada films. Kannada films will survive and thrive only if they make quality films and market it well to bring back its lost audience from telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English movies.