The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : REEL TROUBLE

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 08, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

REEL TROUBLE

THE CRISIS IN the Karnataka film industry, which has resulted in the closure of 50 cinema halls in Bangalore and possibly as many in other parts of the State, raises issues that go well beyond those that ordinarily concern the trade. They relate to the entitlements of those who distribute, exhibit and view cinema and the manner in which such rights are restricted or constrained. The storm is a result of the recent recommendation by a Karnataka Government-constituted committee that non-Kannada films should not be exhibited in the State until seven weeks after their release in the rest of the country. The recommendation, which was made soon after the Karnataka Film Producers Association (KFPA) "declared" a similar moratorium on new non-Kannada films, does not have the force of law. But on the ground it has the effect of a ban. Distributors have been reluctant to give exhibitors new non-Kannada films for release. Exhibitors have either shuttered their ticket windows in protest or have turned in desperation to screening old films to woo an unenthusiastic audience. Defying the moratorium is hardly an option. The KFPA has the support of pro-Kannada chauvinist elements who went on a rampage two weeks ago by ransacking a Bangalore cinema theatre, a Hindi film distributor's office, and the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce.

The informal ban is aimed at boosting the ailing Kannada film industry, which is plagued by low box office draws and seriously challenged by competition from movies made in other languages. The powerful producer lobby, which has the backing of the Kannada superstar Rajkumar, has claimed that the moratorium is in keeping with a 1996 agreement with exhibitors that the State Government had failed to honour. Exhibitors have, and justifiably, raised more fundamental questions. On what ground can films be time-barred from screening merely because they are made in another language? Should the choice of when new films should be screened be determined by producers or by those who actually distribute and exhibit them? The controversy has implications that go far beyond the State.

For film producers in other languages, a seven-week delay in the release of a new film could prove extremely costly considering that CDs and DVDs are likely to make their way into the grey market soon after a film's release. Worried about the loss of revenue and perhaps even more concerned that Karnataka's move could become a precedent for competitive chauvinism in other States, top Bollywood personalities have called on the Prime Minister and the Information and Broadcasting Minister to explain how such a moratorium is improper and unlawful. With the Telugu film industry calling for a day-long bandh and with the Kannada Cinema Theatre Owners Association (KCTOA) planning a solidarity march with Hindi, Telugu and Tamil filmstars, the Karnataka Government is under severe pressure to resolve a dispute that has the potential of widening much further. A promising approach would be to explore the possibility of providing further exemptions and reliefs to the Kannada film industry in order to help it out of its crisis. The KPFA has a laundry list of tax and subsidy-related demands and its present hardline position is partly in protest against the State Government's decision to scale down entertainment tax on non-Kannada films. The Government should persuade the producers to drop their demand for a moratorium that is blatantly discriminatory and can, in the long run, only harm the film trade in Karnataka and elsewhere.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

POVERTY OF APPROACH

REEL TROUBLE

The new foreign trade policy

India and Nepal's insurgency