SC Adjourns Hearing On Moratorium By 4 Weeks

End to film row still elusive
SC Adjourns Hearing On Moratorium By 4 Weeks
Times of India

Bangalore: The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the petition against the moratorium on the release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka by four weeks after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments sought time to file their responses.

Two petitions have been filed by the Chennai-based Gemini Film Circuit and Mumbai-based Hindi film producers, questioning the moratorium. They contended that the moratorium had set a bad trend and other states could follow suit. They feared the moratorium could harm inter-state relationship as the issue related to language and movies.

Justice Santosh Hegde and Justice S.D. Sinha, who heard the petition, had on October 15 stayed the operation of moratorium. They had also then issued notices to Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to file their responses on account of the sensitiveness of the case. On Monday, both states sought more time.

No meeting: The meeting between the Kannada film industry and deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah to end the moratorium row did not take place on Monday.

“Siddaramaiah is busy with the cabinet expansion exercise. He will meet us by weekend. Hopefully, a system that is satisfactory to theatre owners and producers will be evolved by then,’’ Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president H.D. Gangaraju told The Times of India here.

All 1,200 theatre owners, barring six in Bangalore, have implemented the three-week moratorium as part of a “gentleman’s agreement’’. Now, even they are seeking review of the moratorium owing to revenue loss.

Kannada Film Producers’ Association president Basant Kumar Patil said they would wait for some more time. “The government is busy with cabinet expansion. We are satisfied with the three-week moratorium. We do not mind if six theatres violate it. But the present system should not be disturbed.’’

On theatre owners’ demand to review the moratorium, Patil said it could be raised at the meeting with the deputy CM. “Till then, the existing system should continue. If there is any deviation, we will resume our fight,’’ he stated.

NEW RELEASES THIS FRIDAY

Three new films (one Hollywood and two Hindi) will hit the screens across the state this Friday in defiance of the three-week moratorium.

Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 12 , Arindam Chaudhuri’s Rok Sako To Rok Lo and Sanjay Gupta’s Musafir will witness nation-wide release, including Bangalore, according to theatre owners.