The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘People find violence in films disgusting’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘People find violence in films disgusting’

Special Correspondent

‘24 per cent of the films made in 2007 were crime-based’
‘Liberal dose of vulgarity ruining Kannada cinema’

BANGALORE: Excessive portrayal of violence in Kannada movies is responsible for the poor quality of films churned out by the film industry in the State, said outgoing Regional Officer of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) A. Chandrashekar.

Mr. Chandrashekar, who completed a five-year-term as Regional Officer of CBFC in Bangalore, rued the high percentage of crime and violence-based films produced in the State. “People find it (scenes showing violence and bloodshed) disgusting. Unfortunately, the producers don’t seem to understand it” and cited the names of a few movies with multiple scenes of murder.

The percentage of films based on crime and violence produced in Bangalore was high compared with other cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Trivandrum. The percentage of crime-based movies in Bangalore rose from 15.3 in 2004 to 19.4 in 2005 and 20.6 in 2006 before reaching 24 in 2007.

While the percentage of crime-based movies here was increasing and had reached 24 per cent in 2007, the Mumbai film industry, which has a more professional approach to film-making, had registered a gradual decline in the number of crime-based movies to touch a low of 1.6 per cent in 2007.

However, he said the percentage of violence-based movies started showing signs of declining even in Bangalore. “There has been a perceptible decline in the percentage of such movies since 2008,” Mr. Chandrashekar said and wondered whether the dip could be attributed to the Censor Board’s strict policy against portrayal of violence and obscenity in films.

Obscenity was another bane of Kannada films. “The liberal dose of double meaning dialogues and obscene dance numbers are doing little good to the quality of films produced in Karnataka,” he said. Mr. Chandrashekar said there had been a steep increase in the number of films made in Bangalore region in the last three years in the aftermath of the success of films like Mungaru Male and Duniya in 2006. The number of films jumped from 75 in 2006 to 111 in 2007 and 165 in 2008. “We have issued certificates to 105 films in 2009 so far,” he said.

However, the percentage of success had dipped since 2006. “If 22.6 per cent had succeeded in 2006, only 14.41 per cent and 9 per cent of the films had succeeded in 2007 and 2008 respectively”, he said.

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