The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Producers council ban on dubbed films draws flak

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 12, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Producers council ban on dubbed films draws flak

Special Correspondent

A dubbing film producer questions the `originality' plank, maintaining that most big Telugu films are either remakes or rehashes of successful films made in other languages

HYDERABAD: The ban imposed by the Andhra Pradesh Film Producers Council on dubbed films shows their utter disdain for quality and intolerance of the success being enjoyed by dubbed films in Andhra Pradesh. The ban was under the pretext that dubbed films were killing original Telugu films. "What originality are they talking of when most of our big films are either remakes or rehashes of successful films made in other languages? They are unable to digest the success of dubbed films. Neither can they make quality films," a noted dubbing film producer said on conditions of anonymity.

Poser to council

He sought to know if the council would impose a ban on the purchase of remake rights of Tamil films, which most of the idea-starved, originality-defunct big Telugu heroes and producers fancy. The same council spearheaded an agitation against a ban on Telugu films imposed by the Karnataka film industry recently.

Small clique

He said the entire Telugu film industry with production costs touching the skies hinged on a small clique of powerful producers. "We cannot compete with them. Why are we being targeted when we are bringing quality dubbing movies?"

The years 2005 and 2006 became milestones for dubbed films with `Chandramukhi', `Aparichithudu', `Ghazni', `Premisthe', `Manmadha' and `Pandhem Kodi' becoming bumper hits, grossing more than Telugu films. In fact, many of the established producers too took to dubbed films paying fancy prices and chasing Tamil filmmakers while the films were still in the production stage.

The big chase now is for Rajanikanth's `Sivaji' in the direction of Shankar and the grapevine is abuzz about the dubbing price put at a staggering Rs. 10 crores! Ditto with Kamal Hassan's latest Tamil hit `Vettayaadu Veliyaadu' reportedly commanding a premium.

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