The revised edition of Kannada Chalanachitra Itihasa is all set for release in November.
An editorial committee headed by writer Baragur Ramachandrappa has revised the 2,000-page, two-volume work.
“In all likelihood, the volumes will be released by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in November,” president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) B.N. Vijayakumar said.
‘Unwanted’ comments
He told The Hindu that there were some factual errors and “unwanted” criticism against some stalwarts of the industry in the previous edition.
The initiative was aimed at documenting the history of Kannada cinema “authentically”, without hurting anybody’s sentiments and making the work available to readers who had been waiting for it for a decade, he added.
Members of the previous editorial committee were taken into confidence during the revision and they would participate in the [book release] event, he said.
The 1,600-page, two-volume work on the history of Kannada cinema, which was a joint effort of the Kannada University, Hampi, the KFCC and the State government, was withdrawn from public circulation soon after its release following a controversy a decade ago. It was alleged that apart from factual errors, there were uncharitable comments about some of the leading personalities of the Kannada film industry in it.
After nearly 10 years, the KFCC decided to breathe life into the work by carrying out corrections and deleting “unwanted” comments, with the aim of making the volumes available to people.
Upset
Members of the previous editorial committee, however, are upset over the treatment meted out to them during the revision.
Conditions
In a letter to the KFCC, Vijaya, editor of the previous edition, has said permission for revising the volumes was granted on certain conditions. Among them were, inclusion of film academics and historians in the new committee, seeking permission of the “original authors”, and ensuring the presence of members of the previous committee while carrying out corrections, the letter said.
Members of the previous editorial committee are now accusing the KFCC of failing to keep the promise and keeping them in the dark during the revision. “The committee received the draft of the two corrected volumes on October 15. As we were not consulted, it is difficult to trace the corrections. Even the Kannada University was kept out during the revision,” a member of the committee alleged.
Refutes charges
Refuting the charges, Prof. Ramachandrappa said the intention of revising the volumes was to improve the value of the work. The basic structure of the work had not been changed. “The job has been completed satisfactorily. We are prepared to incorporate any suggestion to make the work more authentic,” he said.
“We had no intention of hurting the sentiments of members of the previous editorial committee. The university was kept in the loop during the revision,” Prof. Ramachandrappa added.
