Silly logic

‘Put outside films on hold’
Deccan Herald

Results from State of Bangalore, an AC Nielsen survey initiated by CNN-IBN and Deccan Herald reveal that a majority of the City’s residents wants a check on the influx of non-Kannada films.


Kannadigas are afraid that they are losing their Bangalore and feel like untouchables. But, this debate has now become outdated, and the Kannada film industry is doing well.

- Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar,

Film director

The Jogis, Akashs and Amruthadhaares may continue to have the cash registers jingling. However, Bangaloreans still seem to feel that films from other states are eating into Kannada cinema’s share in the box office pie. Results from State of Bangalore, an AC Nielsen survey initiated by CNN-IBN and Deccan Herald reveal that a majority of the City’s residents wants a check on the influx of non-Kannada films.

To the question “Should the release of non-Kannada films be stalled for a week after their release, to promote Kannada films?”, 49 per cent of the respondents said ‘yes’. While 34 per cent opposed to the logic, 17 per cent were undecided on the issue. The survey also had Radio City as a partner.

“Kannada films should be given priority in the state. The audience for Kannada films is bound to increase if a moratorium is introduced,” says Tejaswini Fernandes, a business development manager. She also feels that non-Kannadigas should be encouraged to watch Kannada movies, so that they can pick up the language as well.

Aggressive promotion of Kannada movies in the multiplexes is another way to deal with the competition from other language films, according to Vijay, brand manager with an advertising company. “It also has to do with marketing. With their limited promotional budgets, it becomes difficult for Kannada movies to compete with Hindi, Tamil or English films, which are relatively bigger projects,” he says.

Theatre artiste Jagadish Raja feels that the focus should be on improving the quality of films. “I don’t see how delaying a non-Kannada film’s release will affect the viewership of Kannada films. Promoting one by preventing another amounts to ineffective pampering, which will never work,” he says. Actor Ramesh Aravind too feels that Kannada films should run on their own merit. “I don’t think any form of incentives or disincentives will make viewers go and watch a movie. Only a well-made film can do that,” he says.