Supreme Court stays non-Kannada movie ban

SC stays film moratorium
Govt washes its hand off ban; Kannada Filmdom Goes Into A Huddle; Exhibitors Happy But Wary
Times of India

New Delhi/Bangalore: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the controversial seven-week moratorium on otherlanguage releases imposed by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC). This, in effect, means there is no hurdle for releasing and exhibiting non-Kannada movies in Karnataka.

The court issued notices to the Kerala and Andhra Pradesh governments since petitioner Gemini Films feared a similar moratorium in those states. Besides the Karnataka government, notices have also been issued to the KFCC and the Kannada Film Producers’ Association (KFPA), which spearheaded the moratorium.

A Bench of Justices N. Santosh Hegde and S.B. Sinha passed the order after counsel D.K. Garg argued that the moratorium violates the fundamental rights of the petitioner, which produces non-Kannada films. Garg said it also violates citizens’ fundamental rights to profession, equality and life.

Responding to the order, Karnataka denied responsibility for the moratorium. Information commissioner Mahendra Jain told The Times of India: “There is no ban imposed by the Karnataka government. It was a self-imposed regulatory measure within the industry. We will examine the order in greater detail and respond.’’

Deputy CM Siddaramaiah, who had already scheduled a meeting on Monday, said in Mysore: “I’ll place the SC order before the meeting.’’

Kannada filmdom went into a tizzy, while other-language filmmakers and exhibitors exulted. Bollywood produce r- d i re c t o r Yash Chopra said over phone from M u m b a i : “This is very good news. Bangalore is the only place where all language movies are released. Such small things should not stop its growth.’’

The KFCC called an executive committee meet on Saturday. “We’ll explore all options — whether to appeal against the stay or respond to the notice,’’ KFCC president H.D. Gangaraju said.

The KFPA has also convened a meeting on Saturday. Its president Basant Kumar Patil said: “The moratorium is an internal industry matter which was imposed to save our language. We will explain our situation to the Supreme Court. If they find anything wrong with that, we will correct it.’’

Kannada filmdom’s action committee head Ashok said they will opt for a legal remedy and termed the present situation “unfortunate’’. Exhibitors, expectedly in a celebratory mood, are still cautious about releasing otherlanguage movies immediately.

Karnataka Film Exhibitors’ Federation chairman R.P. Odugoudar told The Times of India that releases will wait till the Siddaramaiah Committee meets on Monday.

But a Bangalore distributor said the real reason was fear. “Police protection was given to theatres, yet mobs attacked. We know the Supreme Court order is in our favour, but till there is public acceptability, we are afraid.’’

Besides, with the month of Ramzan beginning on Saturday, Hindi film releases are expected to be delayed till it ends on November 15. The consensus among most theatre owners is that the movie which is being currently screened will continue; a change will depend on collections.