The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : 100 per cent tax concession for remake Kannada films opposed

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Friday, Aug 01, 2008
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Karnataka - Bangalore

100 per cent tax concession for remake Kannada films opposed

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: Opposition members in the Karnataka Legislative Council on Wednesday urged the Government not to extend 100 per cent tax concession for remake Kannada films as proposed in the 2008-09 budget as it would harm the growth of original Kannada cinema.

Participating in the discussion on the budget, noted playwright and filmmaker Chandrashekhara Kambar said that the Government should have consulted all those in the Kannada cinema industry before taking a decision. It was wrong to think that the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce was the representative of the industry. The KFCC was only a representative body of producers, distributors and exhibitors. The other representatives such as actors, technicians and workers had no place in it, he said.

Terming remake cinema as a cultural onslaught, Mr. Kambar said that extending 100 per cent tax concession to remake films would amount killing original talent in Kannada. The remake lobby had been misleading the Government and the public on various counts at the cost of creativity and nativity. Extending sops to it would deprive the State of its honour at the national and international levels.

Even the late Rajkumar was not in favour of remake. But the remake lobby had been making attempts to assert itself after the death of Rajkumar. However, his eldest son, Shivrajkumar, took the cause of Kannada cinema stating he was against remake culture, he added.

The former Minister for Information in the H.D. Deve Gowda Government M.C. Naniah recalled his experiences with the industry and the sops, including 100 per cent tax concession for all the original Kannada cinemas.

Lyricist Doddarange Gowda said that remake culture was a “cancer” and persons interested in promoting it had been deceiving the Government that Kannada cinema had been facing dearth of stories.

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