It was the day when prominent sections of the Kannada film fraternity participated in a rally from Mysore Bank Circle to Central College grounds to voice their opposition to other language films and television serials being dubbed into Kannada.
The presence of some of the biggest names in the Kannada film industry had fans jostling one another to get closer to the large trucks that ferried the cinema and television actors. While one open truck had activists and leaders from the Kannada Okkoota that had organised the rally, two separate trucks were seen ferrying leading male and female actors. These included Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, Duniya Vijay, Jaggesh, Prem, Leelavathi, Tara, Balashree, Amulya and Padma Vasanth.
Fans were seen carrying cut-outs of veteran actors, with thespian Rajkumar’s being the most popular.
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Kannada rights groups chanted slogans against producers who, they alleged, were “destroying Kannada culture” and were “anti-Kannada”. The Kannada Film Producers’ Association has taken a pro-dubbing stand.
The Kannada Okkoota comprises a large number of pro-Kannada rights groups including the Kannada Sene, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Dr. Rajkumar Abhimanigala Sangha and Dalit Sangharshana Samiti.
A separate motorcycle rally was also taken out earlier by the Dr. Rajkumar Fans’ Association from Rajajinagar to the Central College grounds.
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The police had tightened security in view of the protest. Speaking to The Hindu , Kannada Sene State president K.R. Kumar pointed out that while remakes were acceptable, allowing dubbed films to flood the market would only benefit big businesses or producers. “Dubbing is not good for our culture as films will just stop representing our lives and culture. Many will lose jobs if dubbing is allowed,” he said, pointing out that a number of technicians had come out in their support.