YASH CHOPRA'S Hindi blockbuster Veer-Zaara may or may not be a huge box office attraction but the release of the film in a handful of theatres in Bangalore on November 19 has triggered violent protests from a vociferous section of the Kannada film industry and some pro-Kannada organisations. In their view, simultaneous release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka is not only an assault on the flagging Kannada film industry, but also an insult to the Kannada language. Their protest has earned sympathy and support from various sections, including Kannada litterateurs and organisations representing farmers and Dalits.
Since sections of the Kannada film industry led mainly by the Karnataka Film Producers' Association launched protests in August no new noteworthy non-Kannada film has been released in Karnataka simultaneously with all its all-India release (Frontline, September 24, 2004). Citing threats to the Kannada film industry from non-Kannada films (which generally have bigger budgets, more number of prints and larger audiences in the State's 1,200 theatres) producers with money and muscle power had managed to persuade the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to declare a seven week moratorium (later reduced to three weeks) on the release of new non-Kannada films in Karnataka.
Most distributors and theatre owners objected to this move on the ground that it was a violation of their fundamental right to do business. Yet there was a temporary, unofficial agreement that the moratorium would be in force till December 15 and that in the meantime the State government would broker a deal between the various groups. But, given the high commercial stakes, Yash Chopra decided to release Veer-Zara directly in theatres in Bangalore since most local distributors were a party to the agreement on the moratorium. Kannada film producers claim that his action is in violation of the by-laws of the KFCC. There are others who argue that there is no restriction on a producer directly releasing his film's prints to an exhibitor.
Chopra was emboldened by the fact that he had successfully petitioned the Supreme Court against the moratorium in Karnataka. (Two other noted Hindi film producers Subhash Ghai and Ram Gopal Varma, and the Gemini Film Circuit had also filed petitions.) The Court had held that all non-Kannada films could be released whenever the makers and distributors desired to do so and that the moratorium violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner and had stayed the moratorium. Two theatre owners who exhibited Veer-Zaara in Bangalore also successfully sought the intervention of the Karnataka High Court, which has directed the State government to provide police protection to their theatres and to keep at a distance of 500 meters protestors who try to stop the screening of the film. In both cases, KFCC has been named as a direct party.
SPEARHEADING the protests has been the Akhila Karnataka Rajkumar Abhimanigala Sangha and organisations founded "to protect the interests of Kannadigas" - the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and the Karunadu Sene. Having roped in a number of film personalities, the most notable being the veteran actor Rajkumar, the protestors have chalked out an agitation programme - `voluntarily' to shut down the Kannada film industry, to stop the release of even new Kannada films and picket theatres that released non-Kannada films in violation of the moratorium which they say is still in operation.
A day prior to addressing a boisterous 4,000 strong crowd, Rajkumar said: "I am ready for any kind of sacrifice. This is our last opportunity to save our language." Does the Kannada language need films to protect it? And more important how many Kannada films are being made with this "noble intention" in mind? Of the 80-odd Kannada films that are made every year, at least 60 are remakes (copied rather badly) from other languages. Moreover, non-Kannada films contribute around Rs.33 crores annually to the State exchequer by way of taxes.
Kannada producers want the State government to give the moratorium legal sanctity. The government is reluctant to do this. In 1996, the Karnataka High Court had struck down an ordinance passed by the State government (acting under pressure from film bodies) directing all cinema houses to exhibit compulsorily Kannada films for 12 weeks in a year.
According to experts, while the Kannada film industry is certainly going through a bad patch some vested interests are trying to hijack the issue to suit their own needs. Many observers blame the "first family" of Kannada filmdom - Rajkumar, his wife Parvathamma and their three actor-sons - for creating the present imbroglio. Many film personalities who were part of the November 25 rally where slippers were hurled at Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh and some of his Cabinet colleagues, told Frontline that they had taken part only because they did not want to be labelled as anti-Kannadiga.
The Joint Action Committee of the Indian film industry and the Film Federation of India has threatened to impose sanctions on the Kannada film industry if the practice of simultaneous release of films is not restored at the earliest.
Ravi SharmaCOMMents
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