Movie buffs unfazed by attacks

Attack or not, theatres are packed
Who Authorised The Vedike To Take Action, Asks KFCC Chief
Times of India

Bangalore: The attack on the Innovative Multiplex by Kannada activists on Saturday has not put off the film-going public: though the multiplex has shut down all its shows, Rex, the other theatre playing Aishwarya Rai’s English starrer Bride and Prejudice, is running to full shows.

Exhibitors told The Times of India: “People have come out in large numbers and both the shows at Rex are running full house. The shows are sold out up to Tuesday.’’ Exhibitors claimed that Kannada activists visited two of the theatres playing the Hindi movie Dhoom and warned the owners. But, with heavy police protection, exhibitors said they are continuing with their ‘defiance’ of the seven-week moratorium on other-language movies imposed in the state.

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) president H.D. Gangaraju, meanwhile, has raised objections to members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike threatening theatre owners. “Who authorised these people to take such action? It is we who have to look into it, see if there are any violations and decide what needs to be done, not they,’’ he maintained.

He, however, sought to shift responsibility to the state’s high power committee on films headed by additional chief secretary (finance) K.P. Pandey. “The earlier KFCC president S. Ramesh had agreed to monitor the moratorium, but we are a just commerce body. We cannot take up such responsibilities. It is the government’s duty to provide protection to theatres. Besides, if the moratorium has to be imposed, it should be done through a government ordinance, not by us,’’ he declared.

Gangaraju said he supports producer Parvathamma Rajkumar and the Kannada Film Producers Association’s demand that the Pandey committee be convened at the earliest to review the situation. “I also want that committee to be reconstituted, as several people who are no longer active in the industry are its members,’’ he contended.

The film chamber has called a meeting on Monday to discuss the situation and decide future course of action. The Producers Association has also called a meeting on Monday. Association president Basant Kumar Patil said: “All chamber members are protesting against the KFCC president’s stand. He shouldn’t have said that permission has been given to Dhoom and Bride and Prejudice. He and the KFCC are provoking others to violate the moratorium.’’

12 arrested: Twelve persons, including security guards, have been arrested for the violence. Police commissioner S. Mariswamy said the inquiry (ordered by CM Dharam Singh) is being pursued and those responsible will be arrested.

FILM BUFFS UNFAZED
‘There’s nothing to be scared of’

Bangalore: The aisle in a cinema hall is packed as viewers grope in the dark for seats. The next show of Bride and Prejudice is about to start. For movie lovers, Ash and Martin Henderson mean a lot more than mob attacks or the sevenweek moratorium.

Come rail, come hail, come shine, come dark — Bangaloreans seemed to care less about Saturday’s violence. “I don’t think there is anything to be scared of. It is something very silly that some people are doing; it should just be ignored,’’ said an avid movie-goer, Manoj B.

In another hall as Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra get on their red and yellow bikes and kick on the gas pedal (in the movie Dhoom), viewers wait with bated breath as to what will happen next. Running in eight cinema halls across the city, Dhoom is doing fairly well, say theatre owners.

“What a question to ask? I am definitely not scared to come to a cinema hall. It was a very stupid thing to do (damage a theatre),’’ said Anirban Banerjee, another film buff.

Gargi N. from Banashankari toed the same line. “I don’t think anything is going to happen. I am going to keep on watching films.’’ Even for those selling tickets, Sunday was just another day — “the sales have been normal,’’ they said.

But there were some who added a word of caution. Rahul Kapoor said: “I am going with my friends. My wife is pregnant and it’s a little scary to take her to the theatre.’’