Govt. promises to encourage the Kannada film industry's parochialist demands

The State Government has assured the Kannada film industry that its demand to allow release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka only seven weeks after their release in their respective States will be considered.
The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, met Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar at the latter's residence and assured him that the K.P. Pandey Committee, formed to look into the demands of the film industry, would submit its recommendations by Monday. He wanted the industry members to maintain the status quo on the release of non-Kannada films till then.

"The Government is for Kannada and its film industry. We know your problems, and I assure you we will look into them at the earliest. The release of non-Kannada films can be deferred till the committee submits its report on Monday," he said.

KFCC office, cinema attacked

A mob attacked the office of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), a cinema and a film distributor's office here today. The police said about 50 people, said to be members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike and the Samara Sene, carried out the attack in protest against the screening of films in languages other than Kannada. According to the police, around 11.30 a.m., the mob attacked the makeshift office of the KFCC in Gandhinagar. They damaged furniture and threw computers and typewriters out of the office. Later, the activists proceeded to Movieland cinema in the crowded Majestic area which was screening a Telugu film. They smashed the windowpanes of the cinema, damaged the furniture and ransacked the canteen. Two employees of the cinema were injured.


The Hindu