If you are a movie buff, you will be spoilt for choice this weekend in Bengaluru. At least 27 films in seven languages — including 10 in Kannada alone — will hit the screens on Friday. The city is also seeing the release of five films in Telugu, four in Hindi and English each, two in Tamil and one each in Malayalam and Marathi.
“In no other Indian city do films in seven languages release on the same day and find audience,” said D.R. Jayaraj, president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC).
But all is not rosy. The glut of films has created a “screen crunch” with multiple producers approaching KFCC seeking intervention to get screens. There are over 100 single screens and 60 multiplex theatres in Bengaluru. They will have to accommodate these 27 films, in addition to 32 that are already running in theatres, taking the total to 59 films competing for a limited number of screens.
A senior exhibitor explained the reason for the glut in Kannada films. “The number of film releases go up in the last two months of the year as films have to be released within the calendar year to be eligible to seek subsidy by the State government,” he said. The last three weeks also saw over five Kannada films released each week. “I had to intervene and request for screens for two Kannada films at multiplex theatres,” Mr. Jayaraj said.
Earlier attempts to streamline releases by a queue system and a screening committee have failed. “We don’t have legal powers to decide on film releases. Many producers are not informed of strategies to maximise returns. If 10 films hit the screen the same day, all of them may lose out. A good film that otherwise may have got an audience through word of mouth, may sink unnoticed,” he said.
Among the 10 Kannada films slated for release are Ninasam Sateesh starrer Brahmachari , Radhika Kumaraswamy’s comeback film Damayanti , a new-age romcom that has piqued interest, Mundina Nildana, and P. Sheshadri’s adaptation of Shivaram Karanth’s seminal work Mookajjiya Kanasugalu .
