The cost of tickets at multiplex screens in Karnataka could be capped at Rs. 120, on the lines of the one in Tamil Nadu, if the draft film policy submitted to the government on Tuesday is implemented.
The draft policy also makes it mandatory for multiplexes to have two prime-time shows of Kannada films on two screens every day. A similar system exists in Maharashtra.
The draft policy was submitted by a 14-member committee, headed by S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu, Chairperson, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“These two recommendations are also based on a survey report — Kannada Film Industry: Challenges and the Way Forward — by T.A. Pai Management Institute. The Kannada film industry recently launched an online campaign over both these demands,” Mr. Babu told The Hindu . The committee, which was constituted on August 20, 2015 has been holding consultations with various sections of the film fraternity.
Janata chitra mandirasThe committee has recommended a subsidy of Rs. 50 lakh for those building ‘janata chitra mandiras’, again on the lines of Amma Theatres in Tamil Nadu, to make cinema viewing affordable. Citing demolition of existing theatres to develop multiplexes and dip in the number of screens, the report stated that Kannada films are suffering because of dominance of other language movies and over 150 films that are being released a year are not getting screens.
Suggesting that the government offer subsidy of Rs. 25 lakh for renovation of old theatres, it said it should be made mandatory that they screen Kannada films. It called for simplifying norms for construction of theatres and simplification of the existing single-window system to facilitate easy shooting of films.
Film archivesThe committee suggested setting up of film archives to preserve historically important Kannada movies, with a library on film literature and documentation of the life and works of personalities to “make a historical documentation of the phases that the film industry has gone through.”
