At a time, when the eight-decade old Kannada film industry is showing signs of recovery with young filmmakers moving away from formulaic plots to strong storylines, it is all set to lose the six-decade old battle against dubbing other language films into Kannada.
For the first time, after 60 years, Naanu Nanna Preethi, a dubbed version of the Bollywood film My Husband’s Wife (2010) starring Rati Agnihotri, Prem Chopra and Shakti Kapoor will be hitting the screens in Bengaluru, in all probability with police security.
The newly formed Kannada Dubbing Film Chamber of Commerce (KDFCC), which supports dubbed films, has approached the Karnataka High Court seeking police protection. It has appealed the court to issue direction to Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), Kannada Film Directors’ Association, Kannada Cine Artists’ Association and Karnataka Television Association (KTA) against the obstruction of screening dubbed films on Friday. However, the release has been postponed for the first week of the next month. “As Public Prosecutor sought time to respond to the appeal of KDFCC, the case has been postponed to next Monday. Our plan is to release the film in the first week of August,” said Krishne Gowda, President KDFCC.
What emboldened KDFCC to release its first dubbed film is an order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI)-a legal authority under the Union Government responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 across the country. The CCI concluded that a detailed investigation by the Director-General, revealed that KFCC, KTA and Kannada Film Producers’ Association were involved in the practice of preventing release and telecast of dubbed films and television serials in the State. Though the three organisations had argued before the Commission that the dubbed content destroys the local language and culture, besides depriving local artistes of opportunities, CCI did not find any merit in the justification. The Commission even imposed a total penalty of Rs.20.24-lakh on the three film bodies.
G. Krishnamurthy of Darshan Enterprises, which is releasing the film, said that they obtained the certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on June 6. Krishnamurthy, who is also Secretary of KDFCC, claims that Naanu Nanna Preethi is the first dubbed film being released since 1962. (This is even been printed on the poster of the film.) He had also sought direction to the Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner from the Dharwad High Court Bench of Karnataka to enable the release of the film.
If KDFCC succeeds in releasing Naanu Nanna Preethi without facing any problem, it is planning to send a package of dubbed films to CBFC to get certification. According to Krishne Gowda, 15 dubbed films have been lined up to be sent to for certification. “Many big producers who have secured the dubbing rights of other language films are in touch with KDFCC and are pleading to help release their films,” says Krishne Gowda.
With this development, a pall of gloom has descended over the Kannada film industry. Film bodies, which have vehemently opposed dubbed content citing reasons of protecting native culture and livelihood of local artists and technicians, have become mute spectators to this development. They are maintaining an uneasy silence fearing backlash from the CCI and the courts. They are also aware of the fact that their stand against dubbing has no legal sanction. “Since there is no law stopping anyone from making dubbed films or serials in Kannada, only a self-imposed code will protect the interest of the Kannada entertainment industry,” opines Basanth Kumar Patil, former president KFCC.
Prominent writers like S.L. Bhyrappa have also opposed dubbing: “It is nothing but inviting the devil passing by.”
The issue of dubbing, according to Ashok of Karnataka Chalanachitra Kalavidara Karmikara Okkuta (a body of film industry workers and artistes), is as old as the Kannada film industry itself. The genesis of the issue can be traced back to 1957. There was a sharp increase in the number of films dubbed from other languages in the early 50s. Other language films started flooding the Kannada market and this sounded a potential danger to indigenous Kannada cinema, which could not obviously match the resources and richness of the films dubbed from neighbouring Tamil and Telugu languages, most of which were lavishly mounted mythologicals and action films. The number of Kannada films produced dipped to single digits in 1957 and 1958. Many leading artistes found themselves without work and the travails of leading a costly life in Madras without anything to fall back upon were further compounded. They formed a troupe and staged plays in various parts of Karnataka to earn their livelihood.
Leafing through the pages of history of Kannada cinema, one can find the first reference to the anti-dubbing movement in Kannada in the words of Aa. Na. Krishnaraya at the Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held at Manipal in 1961. As President of the Sammelana, he called to oppose dubbing culture, which according to him was detrimental to language and culture. He along with another Kannada activist and noted writer Ma. Ramamurthy took up the issue.
Pro-Kannada organisations have also supported the protest by film artistes. When Yashoda Krishna was dubbed from Telugu, the protest began and turned violent as frustrated activists burnt the film print of Mohini Rukmangadha, another Telugu blockbuster, which was showing at Minerva Theatre, Bengaluru at that time.
It is also a fact that some of Kannada film industry’s talented writers and music directors were closely associated with dubbing films, as that was their main source of livelihood. “ Some of the noted Tamil and Telugu artistes, who acted in the original films, started opposing dubbing as they felt that their character was suffering in dubbing and that there was no correlation between emotions and the dialogues. While the yesteryear star Savithri put her foot down against dubbing, another stalwart S.V. Ranga Rao went a step forward by including a condition against dubbing while inking the agreement.
Kannada film stalwarts like Dr. Rajkumar, Honnappa Bhagavatar, noted actor Harini, filmmaker Kanagal Prabhakara Shastry, Kempara Urs, G.V. Iyer strongly opposed the dubbing movement. “Though there was some support for dubbing then, it was in the interest of land, language, culture and the survival of thousands of artistes which overpowered economic interest,” notes Ashok.
Understanding the sentiments of the people, all the exhibitors of Karnataka entered into an oral understanding against releasing dubbed films in their theatres. However, after a gap of three decades, an attempt was made to dub Sanjay Khan’s popular Hindi serial The Sword of Tipu Sultan into Kannada in 1991. But the Kannada film fraternity successfully stalled the move of Sanjay Khan and others, as Kannada icon and legendary actor Dr. Rajkumar opposed dubbing tooth and nail. Another attempt was made with Ramanand Sagar’s popular Hindi serial, Ramayana , but that attempt too was also foiled. The most recent instance was of Aamir Khan’s popular programme Satyameva Jayate , when the actor wrote a letter to KFCC seeking permission to telecast the dubbed version of the programme on a Kannada entertainment channel but it was not successful. An online petition which had hundreds of signatories against dubbing Hritik Roshan’s Kite is another instance. Understanding the impending danger of the dubbing culture in the entertainment industry, a large section of the Kannada film industry in January 2014 took out a huge rally and organised a protest to express its opposition to the dubbing of other language films and television serials in Kannada. Stalwarts of Kannada cinema including Shivarajkumar, Ravichandran, Sudeep, Darshan, Yash, Jaggesh, Pooja Gandhi, Radhika Pandit, Prem, Leelavathi, Shruthi and a host of television artists sent a strong message that dubbing will not be allowed at the cost of Kannada. Cinemas were shut and film industry’s activities were suspended.
But, regardless of the protests by the Kannada film industry and pro-Kannada activists, armed with CCI’s directive, one section of the film industry founded Kannada Dubbing Film Chamber of Commerce and ushered dubbing in slow pace, while the Kannada film industry watched helplessly.
Saga of dubbing
There was a sharp increase in the number of dubbed films from other languages in the 50s.
The number of Kannada films produced dipped to five in 1957 and seven in 1958.
The movement against dubbing gained momentum when Vijaya Vahini company planned to dub Maya Bazar and Patala Bhairavi from Telugu. The protests began under the leadership of highly respected litterateurs, Aa. Na. Krishnaraya and Ma.Ramamurthy. Activists burnt the film print of Mohini Rukmangadha, a Telugu film which was screened in Minerva theatre in the 60s.
Film artistes including Dr. Rajkumar, Honnappa Bhagavatar, Harini, Kanagal Prabhakara Shastry, G.V. Iyer etc also joined the movement against dubbing in the 60s.
Speaking out...
Allaying fears voiced by the Kannada film industry of dumping junk on the audience, filmmaker Pawan Kumar argues that, “audience are not fools, they are learned and intelligent. They know what they want to consume. They won’t buy any junk that is dubbed. They will consume only what appeals to them. If there is a Kannada film, which is better than a dubbed film, they will invariably opt for that”.
B. Suresh, Television director
Legally, we did not have the sanction to stop the dubbing of films. It was socially binding on Kannadigas till date. The CCI has not convened its board meeting so far. We don't have the leadership of the kind provided by Dr. Rajkumar. We don't have the wherewithal needed to fight multi-national corporations."
Ashok, President, Karnataka Kalavidara Karmikata Okkuta
"Anti-dubbing forces have legally succeeded in the battle against the dubbing culture. We are feeling the absence of Kannada icon Dr. Rajkumar at this juncture. Had he been around, nobody would have dared to release a dubbed film, as he opposed it throughout his life, considering its impact on land, language and cultrue and also on the life of thousands of people who depend on Kannada cinema and television industry.
Umesh Banakar, Vice President, KFCC
"They might have won 'symbolically', but it will be difficult for the pro-dubbing forces to sustain. KFCC is exploring all legal options, without accepting defeat. The fight in the constitutional and legal framework will continue, till Kannadigas get justice"
S.V.Rajendra SIngh Babu, filmmaker and producer
"Dubbing is detrimental to the Kannada entertainment industry but unfortunately trade bodies in the industry could not fight the giant corporate forces. But, I am of the opinion that intelligent Kannada audiences will reject dubbed content."
