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Kannada Cinema Today—Who cares???
Dear readers are requested to read the article thoroughly to understand the
actual thought behind it, and also comprehend some of the interesting facts
of our Kannada film industry, its problems and the people belonging to it.
First of all let me make one point clear. Of course, Kannada film industry
is not null and void. We have had a lot of good artistes, technicians,
classical films—all. But my focus lies at the overall achievement and more
importantly at the current period—which is the worst phase we are going
through.
In the last five years or so,
the Indian films (screened in Karnataka) contain the same rotten formulae.
And Kannada films, tend to be a collage of all these. We tend to borrow
glamour from Hindi films, stories from Tamil films, sentiments from Telugu
films and action (?) from
Hollywood
films and say ours’ is a full meal. And correctly, this tastes stale to the
poor Kannada film viewers.
Kannada Films: A brief Assessment
In the 60’s and 70’s, of course the films were different and indeed look
refreshing even if watched now. This is because they contain evergreen
stories, thoroughly prepared screenplays, extraordinary lyrics to songs,
excellent & committed performances by the artistes & technicians. Hence,
one can detect very few flaws in those films.
In the 80’s, it started showing the monotony. Most of the films contained
one famous formula: A hero, who initially is easy-going with few romances
with his girl, continues enjoying his life. Suddenly there is a flashback
which enlightens him about the story of maybe his parents attacked and
tortured by the villains. In the meantime hero himself experiences bitter
moments with these villains. Few songs, a rape scene, few ugly comedy
scenes etc. to complete the masala. And towards the end, the villains
create the ultimate trouble by kidnapping someone that hero is fondly
attached with. And then, there is that lengthy climax which enhances the
glory of hero over villains. Usually the film would end with a happy-note,
maybe a bit of sentiment with somebody sacrificing their life.
Tell me dear readers; did we not see hundreds of films with this
concept??? If this is the case, where can we find ART in films??? If films
are meant for money-making, these people could as well shift to other
fields, where at least money-making is little easier.
In 90s, another trend emerged. An easy-going hero falls in love with the
heroine through mere eye-contact. He conveys it to her; she hesitates
initially and finally succumbs. Few hiccups due to either families,
economic-communal differences or some other villains. So hero does all the
heroics to come out of this. Heroine is just a glam-doll through out the
film. And finally the film ends with the superlative message like, “namma
preethige jaya” or sometimes, “premigalu sattharoo preethige saavilla”.
So people can’t find stories for films, can’t even make considerable
alterations in screenplays or at least change the narration-style.
Innumerable examples I can give for these types of film (sometimes names
don’t flash) and dear readers you yourself would know them.
In the late 90s and 20th century, they got a so-called fresh concept. It
was indeed fresh when it was all started by Sunil Kumar Desai in
“Beladhingala Bale”. This is the concept where, the hero and heroine love
unknowing each other. A telephone, letter, email or even a piano or violin
would be the mediator for them. And some times they even know each other,
but mistake some body else as their lover who comes in their way—maybe one
among the three would be playing the game.
OK, at least here there is a fair share for both hero and heroine to
perform. But how long can we tolerate this concept. To name few of the
films which followed this trend are: Yaare Neenu Cheluve, Kushalave Kshemave,
Heart beats, Jodi, Chora chittha chora, Ninagaagi, Kanasugaara, Excuse me,
Romeo matthu Juliet, etc. etc. (You know there are far too many films other
than these and most of them are remakes too).
There is something called creativity in any ART and one needs to enjoy the
work of film-making. Of course, few of you would argue that this is the
story of any other Indian language films too. But there are other reasons
too for which we are struggling this way and I have conveyed those in one of
my previous articles. My only sincere request to all of you is let us think
differently and positively to come out of this jinx. Let us be ourselves
and aim to become number-one, so that at least we end up at a reasonable
position instead of imitating others or trying to catch-up with others.
Understanding our market:
The latest mega hit in Kannada, “Excuse me” has got lots of flaws with poor
technique, inconsistency in narration, lack of close-ups and inconsistent
camera-work, rotten story, etc. Of course it has got few plus points like
its music and good performances from the new sensations Sunil & Ramya.
A new director like Prem needs to be encouraged for his incisive style of
narration, unless he avoids some of the stints in his films which I’m afraid
are harmful to the society. And of course has to soon learn handling films
with much more control and maturity if he has any desire of breaking the
barriers to reach different heights rather than just satisfying the
producers.
Anyhow, this film is all set to break records. So it is just an example of
what Kannada market is. If this film can get such a response, then imagine
what Kannada film viewers are desperately waiting for. There is no ground
by which the film-makers can blame our people for the poor fate of our
films. You give them, they will surely give back. Kannada is not an
ordinary language and she has no business to be bounded within just 2 lakh
square kilometers and struggle to endure in her native place itself—and I’m
sure things will change if our film-makers do their job properly.
How the film-makers are utilizing the market?
If they had really put 5 crores on the new Kannada film “Durgi”, then this
should be one of the ridiculous things that had happened for some time now.
And there are also reports that the film has in fact done well. So nearly
10 crores of Rupees is literally dumped—a national waste. Guess what can be
done with this money. Most successful companies and organizations have
started with only a fraction of this money as investment.
If Malashri has to act now, she should convince herself first, take some
innovative subjects and should actively involve in the scripts. When she
was at her peak, she was used to promote the then heroes and most of her
films were aimed merely at making money. It is sad to say that she acted in
only one class film “Hridhaya haadithu” and that too when she was a bit aged
and had put enough weight.
People like Jaggesh have made films based on only one topic: A hero does
the entire circus to flatten heroine’s or her father’s or her mother’s
haughtiness with a series of not too convincing comedy sequences. Can’t
they think differently and be a little choosier with the subjects. These
people have a preset goal of how much money their film should make and what
fraction of the audience they have to reach. Is this the way to utilize the
market?
New generation of our industry:
The new generation of our
industry has different ideas though. How can a Kannada film be titled “Mona
Lisa”? She is supposed to be the most beautiful girl for the western people
and not necessarily for all of us. The director can’t take this for
granted. Most of our village friends don’t even know what this name means.
And the film’s team gives a program on TV, in which they talk in Yankee
English as if they are born and dead in
MG Road and Brigade road
and as if they are all English PhD holders. They don’t have the least idea
of who is watching these types of programs and their films. If they think
that their film is promoted by the great cosmopolitan bunch in the IT
corners of
Bangalore, they are utterly wrong. The real audiences are the people
endeavoring for their status in their own land due to the stylish activities
of foreigners, our government and of course these types of films. And it
doesn’t mean that they are any mean-people—they always have their
self-esteem and rights to ask what they need.
Indrajit Lakesh has got a lovely platform led by his great father. He has
got all the opportunity on his hands. Being a journalist as well should
know the balance that is required for today’s society, Kannada people and
what needs to be conveyed in what way. There is no doubt that he should
have some talent (carried in his blood), just that he has to think
differently and seriously. He should also remember that not many talents
have the opportunity to easily get into the important position he has
attained.
Imported artists, technicians, trends etc:
Why are we blindly tolerating the imported artists? What the hell, Dhyan
(Name for Kannada films only) is going to serve our industry. These people
are using the golden opportunity of using our films as the launch pad and
training grounds for their future prospects. They actually would be
struggling even as models when they come here, and when they go out they
feel confident and carry the valuable experience in their arsenal. This is
the scandal that is recurrently running in our industry. Yes, we have
exported artists to other languages, but see what they are doing there and
compare that with this one. Even people like Anil Kapoor, Mani Rathnam etc.
have made use of this opportunity.
They say that these people look smart. My question to them is who is
smarter than Kasthuri Nivasa’s Rajkumar or Nagara haavu’s Vishnuvardhan or
Chandhanadha Gombe’s Anant Nag or Chakravyooha’s Ambarish or Gadibidi
Ganda’s Ravichandran? And if they can’t find smart (as well as talented)
actors and actresses for their films, let them watch Kannada TV Serials,
especially that of T.N. Seetharam’s.
Why do we call on other language singers to sing in our films? Don’t we
have any singers here? Even veteran Hamsalekha is no exception. If he
feels that he has to follow the market-trend to make it safe for his songs
to reach people, then I feel that he does far too many songs and hence
usually makes mess with his lyrics which sometimes looks ridiculous,
especially for a person who has got so much talent. People in the industry
should first assess what is happening within themselves before blaming
others.
And what about the new “Kanglish” trend of lyrics in today’s songs. Bad
myth always continues longer. Others blame on Hamsalekha and Upendra for
starting this trend. Yes, Hamsalekha did it in “Premaloka” and Upendra in
“A”, but only to make it look different. To start with—they had no intention
of setting it as a trend, only that it was so relevant to the sequences in
their films. But eventually they too got trapped themselves inside their
own dens, that is a different story. Anyhow according to me, the best songs
written by them are respectively “Huttidhare…” (Akasmika) and “Hoove hoove…”
(H20) and you may also agree to this verdict, isn’t it? Another promising
talent Kalyan should be properly utilized. And I can assure that Kannada is
not such a poor language for people to search for Anglo-titles for their
films.
What the experienced-pros are doing?
Why the hell, Vishnuvardhan is acting in these types of films. He is all
set to create a record by acting in maximum number of double, triple roles
with fantastic mannerisms of artificial mustaches. And one of those roles
would be a youngster for whom there is a young heroine pairing opposite.
Tolerable to his hardcore fans, but for real film-lovers very difficult to
swallow. Let himself who is such a spectacular actor decide how else he can
contribute to the industry at this stage of his career.
There should be a limit for the romantics of Ravichandran. We understand
that this was his style through out his career, but at this age, he should
think twice before making films like “Malla” and think seriously about
acting in more matured roles.
Rajkumar has to forget his dream project “Bhaktha Ambareesha” at least for
the time being, if his joint-pain is still persisting. He has to instead
look to act in supporting roles, promote the current artists and contribute
to the industry in that way. He should not feel if this is the demotion for
him. I doubt if he has the same plan, but whatever it is, it should happen
quick—the situation is demanding. He has to pass on the priceless
experience to the youngsters.
Brief review on a foreign film and its makers:
We should not feel devastated by the foreign influx to our land and their
supremacy. What special is happening in other languages? I got a chance to
watch the New Mani Rathnam film “Ayutha Elatthu” and was surprised with its
weak-links. I take liberty to criticize Mani Rathnam for good reasons I can
give, especially when I came to know that some of the Tamil journalists had
spoken harshly about our very own Puttanna Kanagal for no reasons.
Of course technically Mani Rathnam’s films are superior, that’s one of his
qualities. But it doesn’t imply that they are thoroughly made. Technical
superiority is achieved when all the technicians work seriously with total
concentration and dedication, and that is bound to happen with all the
reputation that Mani Rathnam has. The real thing is what stuff is dealt in
his films. The formula in most of his films would be something like
inspiration from the current affairs, few romantic scenes comprising
romantic girls, the currently-most happening music director and technicians,
says he has new faces in most of his films—actually they are extremely
talented. And he takes the credit away from all of them. He is the culprit
of whitewashing the career of nation’s all time best music-composer
Ilayaraja for just one statement made by the great music-maestro.
Now what special is hidden in the new venture of his? Just watch this
movie once forgetting all hype surrounding it, you will find it how
ridiculous it is. Did Mani Rathnam have the gut to release this film
without mentioning his name in the title card?
Being so reputed they can’t take things for granted. Film-making is not a
game. A.R.Rehman would have given some fine tunes in the early part of his
career like in Roja, Kadhalan, Rangeela etc. But here he seems to have
literally played game with all sophisticated music instruments and
simulators that he has got. Music should originate from heart, compile in
mind and finally should materialize with voice and instruments. Of course,
why do the difficult part when people blindly accept whatever you give? It
is surprising that no reviewer has raised objections against this film.
Even Kannada Journalists have given all praise to this film blindly.
Do we understand what valuable resources we have with us?
So if this is the case with the so-called nation’s best director, one
should assess what effort was put by Sunil Kumar Desai in “Beladhingala
Bale”, Nagabharana in “Janumadha Jodi”, Upendra in “Om”, Dinesh Babu in
“Amrutha Varshini”, T.N. Seetharam in “Mathadhana”, Nagathihalli
Chandrashekar in “America America”, Rajendra Singh babu in “Mutthina Haara”
and so on. I’m just talking about the recent films; there are more good
films in Kannada in the past, the discussion on which is out of scope of
this article. But soon we are loosing everything. We don’t claim credit
for what we do. There are popular personalities in our industry who can be
found in theatres like Urvashi, Pallavi, Innovative multiplex etc watching
the great non-Kannada films instead of thinking how they can change our
industry.
Not too difficult to succeed when you have back-up and reputation. I can
assure our Desai had no facilities that people like Mani Rathnam may have,
when he made “Beladhingala bale”. He had Ananth Nag who was no star at that
time (though he still is a great actor), no masala-concepts, no foot-tapping
music, no hefty budget and so on. Yet he had the brains and exceptional
skills to convert an impossible novel into film, utilizing whatever limited
resources he had.
So what can be done? Some sort of solution…
We should not be threatened by the foreign influence on our land. If we
are intellectual enough, we can reverse the situation. Our eyes should roll
when we watch today’s non-Kannada films. We can definitely produce far
superior films than these, we definitely have that capability. Forgetting
the heavy budgets, we should just aim at quality. We almost did it a few
years back, when we had a series of good films which also became hits like:
Om, A, AK-47, Amrutha varshini, Nishkarsha, Beladhingala Bale, Nammora
Mandhaara Hoove, Janumadha Jodi, Nagamandala, O mallige, America America,
Upendra, Mathadhana and so on. It is so fascinating to realize that
directors of the above films have such contrasting styles complementing one
another. And that most of these films have not drifted from our nativity
and our own people had worked for these films, maybe they could have worked
a little more harder. Why did we still get not recognized then? It is
because of the problems we create among ourselves.
Abruptly the procession stopped for reasons unknown and the same people who
directed the above films are finding it hard to even produce an average film
today. And the industry is full of remakes, foreign artists & technicians,
borrowed concepts against to our nativity.
Even if we make 50 films in a year, all 50 should be high-class, this
should be the threshold that we need to set to come out of the gremlin—just
we have to take the pledge—it’s not impossible. Also there will be somebody
like Ravichandran who can demoralize our neighbors by remaking their
very-best films with far-more superiority with his unique touch. This kind
of remake is tolerable provided it is limited to a lesser extent. So there
would be nothing else left for other language films then, they would start
to look at remaking and dubbing our films. And if all our films are
superior then they’ll think twice before dubbing all of them and maybe they
might even think of releasing our films in their land which would be such a
fascinating turnaround.
If still the non-Kannada films are screened here, we can take
careful-gradual steps to stop this, without taking rash steps which is
another mistake that we often do. We can give permission to dub the
non-Kannada films to our language, activate Kannada language education
everywhere etc. Let us do all these with love and peace, which is the best
way to do it and let us patiently guide the foreigners about the fragrance
and flavor of our great language. The foreigners living here would have no
other option but to watch our movies if they are good, given the standard of
their language films.
Believe me, it’s a dream which
can come true, if everyone including the people, government, film-makers,
distributors, theatre-owners all join their hands and do their part. The
cosmopolitan environment we have here in
Bangalore could well become the gateway for our language to get
international recognition. You know the ticket rates of non-Kannada films
are more than twice those of ours’. All these factors count. And one thing
is clear, there is no fault with our language—Kannada is a meticulously
organized, divine and technically correct language and she deserves
much-much more recognition than what she is getting now.
Somashekar T
Bangalore
somashekart@yahoo.com
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