KANNADA FILM INDUSTRY CHALLENGES & THE …kcainfo.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kannada-Film...producer/director and Chairman of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, Bengaluru for urging

T A PAI MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (TAPMI)MANIPAL

KANNADA FILM INDUSTRY CHALLENGES & THE WAY FORWARD

A Report prepared forKarnataka Chalanachitra Academy

August 2015

By : Dr. Gururaj KidiyoorDr. Prashant YatgiriProf. Sham Ranjan Shetty

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all We would like to thank Shri. S V Rajendra Singh Babu, a renowned producer/director and Chairman of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, Bengaluru for urging us to take up a study on the regional cinema which is rather unusual for a b-school faculty. Once it was decided to go ahead, he gave us all the support required in terms of data and contacts for primary information. We shall remain indebted to him. We thank Mr. Thomas D’Souza, President, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Mr.B M Harish, Hon. Secretary, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Mr. K C N Chandru, Film Producer and Distributor and Mr. N M Kumar, Film Producer and Exhibitor for sharing their views on the Kannada movie industry through interviews. We are also grateful to Mr.Shivaram of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy for his useful insights on subsidies on movies. The project lead came from Mr.Pramod Fernandes and Sagar Mukhopadhyaya of Manipal Technologies, Manipal. They made it sound exciting and enabled contact with S V Rajendra Singh. Our sincere thanks to them as well. We also take this opportunity to thank our Director, Dr. R C Natarajan for his encouragement and support. Our 2nd year students did all the hard work of data collection from the field. We thank you Shruty D, Ravikeerthi Somayaji, Gourish Bellad, Niharika G, Joel Vas, Mahalasa Kini, Vinayaditya, Mahesh Deshpande, Jayanth Bellur, Sunil Prasad, Pramukh Desai, Arun Bhat, Anup Munavalli and Sagar Manjunath. This project would not have been possible without you people. Pramukh Desai merits special thanks for the content he provided on marketing of movies. Special thanks to Prof. Gurudutt Nayak, Assistant Professor, TAPMI for proof reading the document. We would be failing in our duty if we did not thank Mr. P Johnson, Assistant Administrative Officer, TAPMI and Rebecca Mendonca & Shuba Amin, Academic Assistants, for their immense help in data entry and consolidation. We are also grateful to Kiran Kumar, IT Administrator at TAPMI was instrumental in preparing the questionnaire on Google Docs. Dr. Gururaj Kidiyoor Dr. Prashant Yatgiri Prof. Sham Ranjan Shetty

ii

DISCLAIMER

This report is based on an independent project conducted by T A Pai

Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal purely for academic purposes. The

project was basically an initiative of TAPMI towards contributing to the

development of art and culture of Karnataka, of which cinema is an integral part.

The conclusions drawn in this report and the recommendations made are based

on three sources namely, analysis of survey data collected from a sample of

movie goers, in-depth interviews conduced with five persons associated closely

with Kannada movie industry, and secondary sources mainly from the internet

and print. T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) will have the exclusive

copyright of this work for all puposes.

The study is purely exploratory in nature and the report is not prepared to

highlight either proper or improper handling of a business / administrative

situation by any individual or an institution.

August 29, 2015

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments i Disclaimer ii Part 1: Overview of Indian Film Industry 1-12 Part 2: Kannada Cinema – A Brief History 13-34 Part 3: Kannada Cinema – Issues and Concerns 35-60 Part 4: Consumer Study 61-85 Part 5: Recommendations 86-112 Annexure 1 Annexure 2

Part 1: Overview of Indian Film Industry

1

PART 1

OVERVIEW INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY

One hundred years after its conception, the cinema remains a popular art form and

in the developed countries, appears to be the most widely practised cultural activity

especially with rapid advances in technology. Like any other trade, the trade of

cinema too runs on supply and demand philosophy. Where there is a demand for

certain products and services, there will be a host of suppliers willing to supply them

for profit.

The Indian film industry produces more movies than any other and is seen to be on

the threshold of emerging as a big market internationally. In 2001, the film industry

was granted “industry” status, which has helped to move it to more professionally

approach financing, production and other allied activities. In recent years, the Indian

film industry has witnessed marked improvements on all fronts, viz., technology,

themes, exhibitions, finances, marketing and business environment. Indian film

industry is also getting corporatized. Foreign direct investments (FDI) in all film

related activities such as film production, distribution, exhibition, marketing etc. is

permitted up to 100% for all companies under the automatic route.

Until the end of the 1990s, the Indian film industry received a lot of its finances from

shady and unknown sources. An investment into a film was and still is risky. In 1999,

only 11% of the films released made good business; and the number is not above

25% even now. Lately, the granting of industry status has made financing much

more accessible to producers. The Mumbai film industry (Bollywood) is star-centric

and actors like Amitabh Bachchan are worshiped like half-gods by their numerous

fans. This is why, although they are the largest stakeholders in film production,


2

producers do not dictate terms. Also, the cost structure of Indian movies is hard to

estimate, since the majority of the commercial dealings are cash transactions. Stars

also often work on several sets during the same period of time, which can cause

delays. Disciplinary efforts by the producers come to naught, and because of the

absence of insurance models, completion guarantors and gap financing systems,

they have to bear all the financial risks1.

India is the largest producer of films in the world. In 2009 India produced a total of

2,961 films on celluloid that includes a staggering figure of 1,288 feature films.

Indian film industry is multilingual and the largest in the world in terms of ticket

sales and number of films produced and 7th largest in terms of revenue. It is also

perhaps the oldest film industry in Asia after Japan. The industry is supported

mainly by a vast film-going Indian public, and Indian films have been gaining

increasing popularity in the rest of the world—notably in countries with large

numbers of expatriate Indians. The largest film industry in India is the Hindi film

industry mostly concentrated in Mumbai, and is commonly referred to as

"Bollywood", an amalgamation of Bombay and Hollywood, which produces around

20% of films in India. The other largest film industries are Telugu cinema, Tamil

cinema, Malayalam cinema, Bangla cinema, and Kannada cinema, which are located

in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkatta and Bangalore are commonly referred to as

"Tollywood"(Telugu), "Kollywood"(Tamil), "Mollywood"(Malayalam),

"Tollywood"(Bangla) and "Sandalwood"(Kannada). The remaining majority portion

is spread across northern, western, and southern India (with

1 Competition concerns in the film industry by Dr.K D Singh and Tulika Singh


3

Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, Oriya, Assamese Cinema). Indian films are made filled

with musicals, action, romance, comedy, and an increasing number of special effects.

"Bollywood" picks up a larger portion of films produced in India and is viewed all

over the Indian Subcontinent, and is increasingly popular in UK, USA, Australia, New

Zealand, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Gulf countries and European countries having

large Indian population.

Enhanced technology paved the way for upgrading from established cinematic

norms of delivering product, altering the manner in which content reached the

target audience. Visual effects based, super hero science fiction, and epic films

like Baahubali. Enthiran, Ra.One, Eega, and Krrish 3 emerged as blockbusters.

Eminent directors such as Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Adoor

Gopalakrishnan, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, G. Aravindan, Aparna Sen,Shaji N. Karun,

and Girish Kasaravalli have made significant contributions to Parallel Cinema and

won global acclaim. Other filmmakers such as Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair and Deepa

Mehta have found success overseas. The Indian government extended film

delegations to foreign countries such as the United States of America and Japan

while the country's Film Producers Guild sent similar missions through Europe. The

provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market

attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Walt

Disney Pictures and Warner Bros. Indian enterprises such as AVM

Productions, Prasad's Group, Sun Pictures, PVP Cinemas, Zee, UTV, Suresh

Productions, Eros Films, Ayngaran International, Pyramid Saimira, Aascar

Films and Adlabs also participated in producing and distributing films. Tax

incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. By 2003 as many


4

as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of

India, making the commercial presence of the medium felt.

The South Indian film industry defines the four film cultures of South India as a

single entity. They are the Kannada, the Malayalam, the Tamil and

the Telugu industries. Although developed independently for a long period of time,

gross exchange of film performers and technicians as well as globalisation helped to

shape this new identity. The Indian diaspora consists of millions of Indians overseas

for which films are made available both through mediums such as DVDs and by

screening of films in their country of residence wherever commercially

feasible. These earnings, accounting for some 12% of the revenue generated by a

mainstream film, contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema,

the net worth of which was found to be US$1.3 billion in 2000. Music in Indian

cinema is another substantial revenue generator, with the music rights alone

accounting for 4–5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India2.

Hindi cinema

The Hindi language film industry of Mumbai—also known as Bollywood—is the

largest and most powerful branch that controls Indian cinema. Hindi cinema initially

had lots of films exploring issues of caste and culture in films such as Achhut

Kanya (1936) and Sujata (1959). International visibility came to the industry

with Raj Kapoor's Awara and later in Shakti Samantha's Aradhana starring Rajesh

Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. Hindi cinema grew during the 1990s with the release

of as many as 215 films.

2 Source: Potts, 74 & Potts, 75 accessed on 10th August 2015


5

In 1995 the Indian economy began showing sustainable annual growth, and Hindi

cinema, as a commercial enterprise, grew at a growth rate of 15% annually. The

salary of lead stars increased greatly. Many actors signed contracts for simultaneous

work in 3–4 films. Institutions such as the Industrial Development Bank of India also

came forward to finance Hindi films. A number of magazines such

as Filmfare, Stardust, Cineblitz, etc., became popular. The audience's reaction

towards Hindi cinema is quite distinctive with involvement in the films by

audience's endorsements through clapping, singing, reciting familiar dialogue with

the actors.

Kannada cinema

Kannada film industry, also referred as Sandalwood, is based in Bengaluru and

caters mostly to the state of Karnataka. Rajkumar was eminent in Kannada film

industry. In his career, he performed versatile characters and sung hundreds of

songs for film and albums. Other notable Kannada and Tulu actors

include Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish,Ravichandran, Girish Karnad, Prakash

Raj, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Upendra, Darshan, Sudeep, Ganesh, Shivaraj

Kumar, Puneet Rajkumar, Kalpana, Bharathi, Jayanthi, Pandari

Bai, Tara, Umashri and Ramya.

Film directors from the Kannada film industry like Girish

Kasaravalli, P.Sheshadri have garnered national recognition. Other noted directors

include Puttanna Kanagal, G. V. Iyer,Girish Karnad, T. S. Nagabharana, Kesari

Harvoo, Upendra, Yograj Bhat, and Soori. In the arena of music direction G.K.


6

Venkatesh, Vijaya Bhaskar, Rajan-Nagendra, Hamsalekha, Gurukiran, Anoop

Seelin and V. Harikrishna are some of the noted music directors.

Kannada cinema, along with Bengali and Malayalam films, contributed

simultaneously to the age of Indian parallel cinema. Some of the influential Kannada

Films based on this genre are Samskara ( based on a novel by U R Ananthamurthy),

Chomana Dudi by B V Karanth, Tabarana Kathe, Vamshavruksha, Kadu Kudure,

Hamsageethe, Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu, Accident, Maanasa Sarovara, Ghatashraddha,

Mane, Kraurya, Thayi Saheba, Dweepa, Munnudi, Atithi, Beru, Thutturi, Vimukthi,

Bettada Jeeva and Bharath Stores.

The Government Film and Television Institute, Bangalore (formerly a part of

S.J.Polytechnic) is believed as the first government institute in India to start

technical courses related to films with legends like V K Murthy, Govind Nihalani etc.

passing out from this institute.

Malayalam cinema

Malayalam film industry, also known as Mollywood, is based in Kerala. It is

considered to be the fourth largest among the film industries in India. Malayalam

film industry is known for films that bridge the gap between parallel cinema and

mainstream cinema by portraying thought-provoking social issues with top notch

technical perfection but with low budgets. Filmmakers include Adoor

Gopalakrishnan, Shaji N. Karun, G. Aravindan, K. G. George, Padmarajan, Sathyan

Anthikad, T. V. Chandran and Bharathan.

Vigathakumaran, a silent movie released in 1928 produced and directed by J. C.

Daniel, marked the beginning of Malayalam cinema. Malayalam films were mainly


7

produced by Tamil producers till 1947, when the first major film studio, Udaya

Studio, was established in Kerala. In 1954, the film Neelakkuyil captured national

interest by winning the President's silver medal. Chemmeen (1965), directed by

Ramu Kariat and based on a story by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, went on to become

immensely popular, and became the first South Indian film to win the National Film

Award for Best Feature Film.[199]

The period from late 1980s to early 1990s is popularly regarded as the 'Golden Age

of Malayalam Cinema with the emergence of actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, Suresh

Gopi,Jayaram, Murali, Thilakan and Nedumudi Venu and filmmakers such as I.V.

Sasi, Bharathan, Padmarajan, K. G. George, Sathyan Anthikad, Priyadarshan, A. K.

Lohithadas,Siddique-Lal, T. K. Rajeev Kumar and Sreenivasan. In 2014, the total

number of Malayalam movies released were 148

Marathi cinema

Marathi cinema is the films produced in the Marathi language in the state of

Maharashtra. Marathi Cinema is one of the oldest industry in Indian Cinema. In fact

the pioneer of cinema in Union of India was Dadasaheb Phalke, who brought the

revolution of moving images to India with his first indigenously made silent

film Raja Harishchandra in 1913, which is considered by IFFI and NIFD part of

Marathi cinema as it was made by a Marathi crew.

The first Marathi talkie film, Ayodhyecha Raja (produced by Prabhat Films) was

released in 1932, just one year after "Alam Ara" the first Hindi talkie film. Marathi

cinema has grown immensely with two of its films, namely "Shwaas" (2004) and

"Harishchandrachi Factory" (2009), being sent as India's official entries for the


8

Oscars. Today the industry is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, but it sprouted and

grew first from Kolhapur and then Pune.

Maharashtra has immense contribution to Bollywood as several Maharashtrian

actors have brought glamour to the Indian film industry. Marathi film industry has

included the work of actors including Nutan, Tanuja, V Shantaram, Shriram

Lagoo, Ramesh Deo and Seema Deo, Nana Patekar, Smita Patil, Madhuri Dixit, Sonali

Kulkarni, Sonali Bendre, Urmila Matondkar, Reema Lagoo, Lalita Pawar, Mamta

Kulkarni, Nanda, Padmini Kolhapure, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Sachin Khedekar, Durga

Khote, and others.

Tamil Cinema

The Tamil film industry, also known as Kollywood is based in Chennai and is the

largest in India in terms of movies produced. The city once served as a base for

all South Indian films and to date remains South India's largest film production

centre.

Sivaji Ganesan became India's first ever actor to receive an international award

when he won the "Best Actor" award at the Afro-Asian film festival in 1960 and was

awarded the title of Chevalier in the Legion of Honour by the French Government in

1995. Tamil cinema is also influenced by Dravidian politics, with prominent film

personalities like C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran, M

Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa becoming Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu. Tamil films

are distributed to various parts of Asia, Southern Africa, Northern America, Europe


9

and Oceania. The industry has inspired Tamil film-making in Sri Lanka, Malaysia,

Singapore and Canada.

Rajnikanth is referred to as "Superstar" and has since continued to hold a matinee

idol status in the popular culture of South India. His mannerisms and stylised

delivery of dialogue in films contribute to his mass popularity and appeal. After

earning Rs.26 crore(US$4.1 million) for his role in Sivaji (2007), he became the

highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan. Kamal Haasan made his debut in

Kalathur Kannamma for which he won the President's Gold Medal for Best Child

Actor. Haasan is tied with Mammootty and Amitabh Bachchan for the most Best

Actor National Film Awards with three. With seven submissions, Kamal Haasan has

starred in the highest number of films submitted India for the Academy Award Best

Foreign Language Film.

In Tamil films music and songs play an important role. Critically acclaimed

composers such as Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman having "international following"

belong to Tamil cinema. Play back singer S. P. Balasubramanyam holds the Guinness

World Record of having sung the most number of songs for any male playback singer

in the world. S. Janaki has sung over 30,000 songs and has won 4 national awards.

Telugu Cinema

The highest number of theaters are located in the Indian states of Andhra

Pradesh and Telangana which produce films in the Telugu language. A total of 2809

theatres are located in these regions out of 10167 theaters running in India. Ramoji

Film City, which holds the Guinness World Record for the world's largest film

production facility, is located in Hyderabad, India. The Prasad's IMAX located in


10

Hyderabad is the world's largest 3D IMAX screen and is the most attended screen in

the world. Hyderabad is the only city in India which has six functional Film studios.

The state of Andhra Pradesh has the most number of Cinema Theaters in India.

In 2002, the Guinness Book of Records named Vijaya Nirmala as the female director

with most number of films; she made 47 films. In a career spanning approximately

two decades, she acted in over 200 films with 25 each in Malayalam and Tamil. She

also produced 15 films. Telugu actor Brahmanandam holds the Guinness World

Record for acting in the most number of films in a single language. Movie

producer D.Rama Naidu holds the Guinness World Record as the most prolific

producer with 130 films.

S. V. Ranga Rao is one of the first Indian actors of the time to receive international

award at Indonesian Film Festival, held in Jakarta for Narthanasala in 1963. N. T.

Rama Rao was one of the most commercially successful Telugu actors of his time. B.

Narsing Rao, K. N. T. Sastry and Pattabhirama Reddy have garnered international

recognition for their pioneering work in Parallel Cinema. Adurthi Subba Rao, has

garnered ten National Film Awards, the highest individual awards in Telugu cinema,

for his pioneering work as a director.

In the years 2005, 2006 and 2008 the Telugu Film industry produced the largest

number of films in India exceeding the number of films produced in Bollywood, with

268, 245 and 286 films in each year respectively.

Tulu cinema


11

Tulu film industry is a part of Indian cinema. It produces 2 to 3 films annually.

Usually these films are released in theatres across the Tulu Nadu region which

consists of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The critically acclaimed Tulu

Film Suddha, won the award for the best Indian Film at the Osian film festival held

at New Delhi in the year 2006. Oriyardori Asal released in 2011 is the most

successful Tulu film till date.

The first Tulu film is Enna Thangadi released in 1971. Dareda Budedi produced by

K.N. Taylor was the second feature film released in the same year. Bisatti

Babu produced in 1972 was the first film to receive the State government award as

the best Tulu film. Bangar Patler produced in 1993 by Richard Castelino has won the

highest national and international awards. September 8, directed by Richard

Castelino, starring Kannada actor Sunil and Kannada writer, K Shivaram Karanth

was shot in 24 hours entirely in Mangalore, a record in the world cinema.

Nirel directed by Ranjith Bajpe, produced by Shodhan Prasad and co - produced by

San Poojary will be the first Tulu movie totally produced overseas.

Revenue Contributions

While the Hindi movie industry in India is the largest, the country also has a fairly

large and active regional movie industry . Films in India are usually segmented into

3 key groups, based on language: A) Hindi; B) Regional (includes Tamil, Telugu,

Other Regional); C) International (includes English and foreign language films)

The Hindi film industry is the largest in India, representing 43% of net box office

revenue. Within the Regional film industry, Tamil and Telugu are the largest

segments comprising 36% of net box office revenues


12

The ‘Other Regional’ segment (comprising 15% of net box office revenues) in

FY2013 was estimated to be: ‒ Malayalam (FY2013): INR 250-275 Cr (US$ 40-44

mn); Kannada (FY2013): INR 250-275 Cr (US$ 40-44 mn); Bengali (CY2012): INR

100 Cr (US$ 16 mn); Marathi (CY2011): INR 100 Cr (US$ 16 mn); Punjabi (CY2011):

INR 50 Cr (US$ 8 mn); industry participants suggest that the Bhojpuri industry is

also a notable contributor to regional cinema

Large national producers such as Reliance Entertainment, Eros, Disney UTV, Viacom

18 Motion Pictures, Fox Star Studios as well as independent producers like Emmay

Entertainment (Nikhil Advani), Akshay Kumar and Grazing Goat Productions plan to

spend 20% of their annual budgets on regional cinema

International films is currently a small, but growing segment, driven by rising

numbers of English (and other foreign language) speakers, as well as increasing

numbers of international movies witnessing dubbed releases across the country key

highlights3.

A comparison of movies released in major languages in the last five years4

Year Kannada Hindi Telugu Tamil Malayalam Marathi

2010 137 130 98 141 105 56

2011 104 102 104 131 104 67

2012 91 104 96 143 127 73

2013 121 113 105 148 158 64

2014 118 201 195 215 148 55

Total 571 650 598 778 642 315

3 Economic Contribution of the Indian Motion Picture and Television Industry by Deliotte, March 2014 4 www.wikipedia.com accessed on 10th August 2015

Part 2: Kannada Cinema – A Brief History

13

PART 2

KANNADA CINEMA – A BRIEF HISTORY

The Cinema of Karnataka, sometimes colloquially referred to as 'Chandanavana'

or the Sandalwood, is a part of Indian cinema, where motion pictures are

produced in the Kannada language, and based in Bengaluru. Today more than 100

films are made every year. In terms of the size, Kannada cinema falls in the 2nd

cluster along with Bengali and Marathi movies with 100 – 150 movies being made

every year. The top cluster is represented by Hindi, Tamil and Telugu cinema,

each of which make more than 150 movies per year. Bhojpuri and Gujarati cinema

which produce between 50-100 movies a year fall in the 2nd cluster. However in

terms of revenues, Kannada cinema is ahead of Marathi and Bengali movies.

However as far as to south Indian movies are concerned, Kannada movies

contribute just 2% of the revenues. Telugu and Tamil movies have 45% share

each.

Kannada films are released in a total of 950 single screen theatres in Karnataka

and a handful of the movies are also released in the United States, Australia,

Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries. The first government institute

in India to start technical courses related to films was established in 1941 named

as occupational institute then named as S. J. Polytechnic in Bengaluru. In

September 1996, two specialized courses, Cinematography and Sound &

Television were separated, and a new Institute Government Film and Television

Institute was started at Hesaraghatta, under the World Bank Assisted Project for

Technician Development in India.


14

Early history

As early as in 1925 a silent movie, Vasantasena, based on Sanskrit drama

Mrochakatika was made in Karnataka. Produced by Mr. Bhavanani, it starred

Jaikishan Nanda, Y Ramarao, Dr. S S Narayana Shastri and the well known T P

Kailasam. It is believed that between the periods 1921 to 1933, as many as 175

silent movies were made in Karnataka.

The age of the silent movies came to an end in 1935 with the first Kannada talkie,

Sati Sulochana, appearing in theatres, followed by Bhakta Dhruva. Both Sati

Sulochana and Bhakta Dhruva were major successes. Sati Sulochana was shot in

Maharashtra Cinetone studio in Kolhapur and most of the filming, sound

recording, and post-production was done in Chennai. Sati Sulochana was released

in Paramount Talkies in Bangalore and ran for six weeks. The fourth movie in

Kannada was released in 1936, a social drama titled Samsara Nauka.

It was difficult to find financial backing for new film projects in the region, thus

very few movies in Kannada were released during the early years of Indian sound

cinema. In fact between 1934 and 1949 only 28 movies were made in Kannada,

which amounted to less than 2 movies per year. Among these movies successful

ones were Sati Sulochana, Samsara Nauka, Jeevana Nataka (1942), Satya

Harishchandra (1943), Vasantasena (1941), Bhakta Kumbara (1949) and

Nagakannika (1949). The reasons for this slow growth can be attributed to the


15

competition from drama companies1 and the general slow down in the movie

industry on account of the second world war. Moreover the industry faced

distribution issues as Kannada speaking areas were split among various

provinces under the British rule. There were problems in getting the movies to

the rural areas and the urban elite did not perceive Kannada movies to be good.

Hence the market for Kannada movies was very limited.

During these times of distress, a production company “Mahatma Pictures” came to

the rescue of the industry. Led by partners D. Shankar Singh and B Vittalacharya,

it made attempts to get the industry rooted in Karnataka and brought in a

disciplined way of making movies within a limited budget. Though their initial

movies Krishnaleela (1947) and Bhakta Ramadas (1948) did not do well,

Nagakannika (1949) was a big success at the box office. Though the partners

separated in early 1950s, Shankar Singh continued to make movies not only

under the Mahatma Pictures banner but also under “Venkateshwara Productions”

and “Padukeshwara Pictures”. All in all Shankar Singh is believed to have been

involved in the production of as many as 48 movies.

Another dignitary, Gubbi Veeranna could be considered the doyen of Kannada

cinema during the mid to late forties. In 1949, Honnappa Bhagavathar, who had

earlier acted in Gubbi Veeranna's films, produced Bhaktha Kumbara and starred

in the lead role along with Pandaribai. In 1955, Honnappa Bhagavathar again

produced a Kannada film, Mahakavi Kalidasa, in which he introduced B. Saroja

Devi who went on to become one of the most sought after stars in Tamil, Telugu

1 Drama companies were a major draw during this time and people preferred dramas to movies.


16

and Kannada movies in 1960s and early 70s.

Another production house, “Padmini Pictures” under the leadership of B R

Pantulu (1910- 1974) entered the Kannada industry in 1955 with the social

drama Modala Tedi which was a huge success. Under this banner, 20 Kannada

movies were made from 1955 to 1972, and out of this 18 were directed by B R

Pantulu himself. Many of his movies such as Beedi Basavanna (1967), Emme

Thammanna(1966), Amma(1968), and Sri Krishnadevaraya (1970) had starred

Rajkumar, who was to become the superstar in later years.

K R Seetharama Sastry ("Kurasi") was an actor, film director, lyricist, and screen

playwright from the mid-forties through the late seventies. Kurasi introduced

several artists to Kannada film industry, including Shivaram (Beratha Jeeva, 1965)

and Shakthi Prasad (father of Kannada, Telugu and Tamil actor/director Arjun).

Narasimharaju (1923 – 1979) and G. V. Iyer (1917 – 2003) decided to form a

partnership and produce movies. The partnership lasted for only a couple of

movies. Ranadhira Kanteerava was one such successful joint venture. The

majority of the films during this decade were either mythological or historical in

nature. Narasimharaju was a famous comedian who starred in most of the movies

made during this time. He had a large group of admirers and even today his acting

is taken as the benchmark in comedy in Kannada films. G V Iyer later went to

make landmark movies in Sanskrit that won critical appreciation and many

awards.


17

The entry of Rajkumar (1929 – 2006) in the early 1950s encouraged the Kannada

film industry to make more historical movies. Bedara Kannappa (1954) was the

first Kannada movie, which completed 365 days at the theatres and it received a

letter of appreciation from the central government. During this period, the

Kannada movie industry had three prominent heroes namely Rajkumar, Uday

Kumar (1933 – 1985) and Kalyan Kumar (1928 – 1999). Among the three, Uday

Kumar did not restrict himself to playing hero roles and acted in a variety of roles

such as villain, brother etc. Due to his physical appearance he was also considered

for elderly character roles such father or grand father. Perhaps due to this, slowly

but surely he lost the race towards stardom. Kalyan Kumar however played the

role of the hero in a majority of the movies but he was lured by the canvas and the

reach of Tamil cinema and stayed more focused on multi-lingual presence. He did

act in some famous Tamil movies such as Nenjil Oru Alayam (in 1962 where he

starred with Sivaji Ganesan), Paasam, Azhagu Nilaand, Mani Osai, Yarukku

Sontham etc,. On the other hand, Rajkumar acted mainly in hero roles and stayed

focused on Kannada movies. In the earlier stages of his career, he did not act in

non-Kannada movies perhaps by default and later stages, he stayed away from

non-Kannada movies by choice.

Among the female actors, there have been several who had long careers in

Kannada movies. M V Rajamma (1923 – 1999) , Pandari Bai (1928 – 2003), Harini

( 1937 - ) and Leelavati (1938 - ) were popular heroines from 1950 – 1970 and

they have played female leads opposite Rajkumar, Uday Kumar and Kalyan

Kumar. In the late 60s and 70s, the pairing of Rajkumar with Jayanthi and Bharati

were very popular. Jayanthi has the distinction of playing heroine with Rajkumar


18

in more than 35 movies while Bharati (who later married actor Vishnuvardhan)

paired with him in some of his most successful movies that included Bangarada

Manushya.

1970s and 1980s

Most of the movies produced till 1960s belonged to the historical, mythological or

the folklore genre. One fine exponent of this was the multifaceted Hunusur

Krishnamurthy (1914 – 1989) who was adept at writing dialogues, screenplay

and songs. In fact he was the writer for most of the earlier movies produced under

the banner of Mahatma Pictures. He took to direction in 1958 with the movie Asha

Sundari and went on to direct several hit movies that included Sri Krishna Garudi,

Satya Harishchandra, Devara Gedda Manava, Bhakta Kumabara and

Bhabruvahana.

The 1970s and the 1980s are often considered to be the Golden Age of Kannada

cinema. The industry made a shift from black and white to color movies and the

first cinemascope movie Sose Thanda Saubhagya was released in 1977. This was

the period when Kannada cinema made its presence felt through good quality

movies that were also commercially successful. It was also the period that

witnessed the birth of alternate cinema or parallel cinema. Kannada cinema

spearheaded the parallel cinema movement in India along with Hindi, Bengali and

Malayalam cinemas.

B. V. Karanth's Chomana Dudi (an evocative film on caste distinctions based on the


19

award winning novel by Dr. Shivaram Karanth), Girish Karnad's Kaadu and Girish

Kasaravalli's Ghatashraddha (1977) spearheaded the Kannada parallel cinema.

Vamshavruksha (1971), Prema Karanth's Phaniyamma (1983), Kadu Kudure

(1979), Hamsageethe (1975), Accident (1985), Akramana (1980), Mooru Daarigalu

(1981), Tabarana Kathe (1987), Bannadha Vesha (1988) and Puttanna Kanagal's

Naagarahaavu (1972) were some of the important movies of this era.

Though the practice of making popular novels into movies was not new to

Kannada cinema, Puttanna Kanagal (1933 – 1985) made it almost mandatory for

his movies. He had worked in B R Pantulu’s Padmini Pictures earlier and made his

debut as director through Belli Moda in 1967 which was based on a novel by

Triveni. The other novel based movies made him are Sharapanjara (1971), Gejje

Pooje (1969), Nagarahavu (2002), Edakallu Guddada Mele (1973),

Shubhamangala (1975) and Ranganayaki (1981) to name a few. His movies were

known for strong female characters, good locations and catchy music. He was

admired by the famous Tamil movie director K Balachander and another well-

known Tamil director Bharatiraja had done his apprenticeship under Puttanna

Kanagal. Puttanna Kanagal is considered as the first star director of Kannada

cinema.

Siddalingaiah (1936 – 2015) directed Mayor Muthanna in 1969 starring

Rajkumar, Bharathi and Dwarakish in his film debut. He cast the same lead pair in

Baalu Belagithu (1970), Namma Samsara (1971), Thayi Devaru (1971) and

Bangaarada Manushya (1972). After Bangaarda Manushya, he worked with other

actors including Vishnuvardhan, Ananth Nag, Lokesh and Srinivasa Murthy. He


20

introduced his son Murali in the 1983 romantic drama Prema Parva. He also

directed a Tamil film Puthir in 1986 with Murali as the lead actor. His last film,

Prema Prema Prema, was released in 1999 after which he retired from directing.

In 1993–94, he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award for his contribution to

the Kannada film industry as a director.

V Somashekhar (1937 – 2003) was another popular director during this time. In

40 years of his career as a director, he directed 49 films that includes commercial

successes such as Premada Kanike (1976), Shankar Guru (1978), Seetharamu

(1979) and Chakravyuha (1983). Following his directorial career, he worked as

the President of Kannada Film Directors Association. Recognizing his contribution

to Kannada cinema, he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award in 2001.

By early 1970s, Rajkumar was a steady and consistent performer and had firmly

established himself in the industry with more than 150 films to his credit. He had

a different approach to acting as compared to his contemporaries from Tamil and

Telugu movie industries such as M G Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, N T Rama

Rao and A Nageswara Rao. Though he had come from the theatre background

Rajkumar’s acting was devoid of theatrics and he avoided going over the top.

Nevertheless he was known for his versatility and excelled in all genres movies

such as Mythologies, Historicals, Socials dramas, Spy Thrillers and Romance. His

performance in movies such as Bhoo Kailasa (1958), Sati Shakti (1963), Kasturi

Nivasa (1971), Bangarada Manushya (1972), Mayura, Gandhada Gudi (1973),

Shankar Guru (1978) were unprallelled. He had built up a great fan following by

early 1970s but his crowd pulling capacity all over Karnataka was demonstrated


21

through a movie called Sampattige Sawal. Released in 1974, it was a money-

spinner with even small centers in north Karnataka turning in excellent

collections. Though his earlier 1972 movie Bangarada Manushya was a runaway

success, the laurels were shared by the actor, the director (Siddalingayya) and the

story writer ( T K Ramarao). Even the 1973 golden jubilee hit Gandhada Gudi ran

because of its novelty (forest conservation), and all round excellence (acting,

direction, locations, music, screenplay). The movie Sampattige Sawal changed the

way the industry and the people viewed Rajkumar. Each movie he did after this

was a virtual money spinner (with very few exceptions). Movies such as Mayura

(1975), Naa Ninna Mareyalre (1976), Bangarada Panjara (1974), which he

starred during this period are remembered even to this day. Later he restricted

his acting mainly to his home productions and gave many hits such as Shankar

Guru, Thayige Takka Maga (1978), Chalisuva Modagalu (1982), Anuraga Aralithu

(1986) and Odahuttidavaru (1994) to name a few. Rajkumar retained his star

power till his last movie (206th) Shabdavedi which was released in the year 2000.

He had several fan associations that would celebrate the release of his movies

with large cut outs and garlands, a practice which probably began in Tamil Nadu.

Rajkumar has won several awards for his contribution to Kannada cinema that

includes Padma Bushan and Dada Saheb Phalke award.

Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh were the two stars born in this decade. Ace

director Puttanna Kanagal decided to make Nagarahavu based on the Kannada

novel with the same name2 and cast two newcomers in the movie. Vishnuvardhan

2 It was actually based on a trilogy of novels – Nagarahavu, Eradu Hennu Ondu Gandu and Sarpamatsara.


22

(who had debuted in 1972 with a miniscule role in the award winning film

Vamshavriksha) was cast as the hero and Ambareesh in a small negative role.

Produced by N Veeraswamy, Nagarahavu released in 1972, was a stupendous hit

and Vishnuvardhan’s performance as a young rebellious man torn between two

women was highly appreciated. Soon he acted in a negative role opposite

Rajkumar in Gandhada Gudi but then stuck to playing hero movies. Some movies

after Nagarahavu did not do well but he made a comeback with the megahit

“Nagarahole” directed by ace director S V Rajendra Singh (Babu). He never looked

back after this and went to deliver several hits till his death in 2010. A versatile

actor, he starred in hit movies such as Nagarahole (1977), Sahodarara Sawal

(1977), Guru Shishyaru (1981), Kiladi Jodi (1978), Bandhana (1984), Suprabhata

(1988), Yejamana (2000), and Apthamithra (2004), to name a few. He had a large

fan following and is considered as the second most popular star after Rajkumar.

Vishnuvardhan went on to become a super star of south India acting in 220 films

in 5 main languages of the country. He became recognised at all India level for his

performances.

Ambareesh who had debuted in Nagarahavu, was noticed even though his role

was very small and played the role of the villain in several movies such as

Bangarada Gudi (1976), Seeteyalla Savithri (1973), Devara Kannu (1975), Onde

Roopa Eradu Guna (1975) etc.

With his unconventional looks he was a popular villain and was compared to

Shatrughan Sinha of Bollywood. Ambareesh also did character roles in movies

such as Shubhamangala (1975), Muyyige Muyyi (1978), and Nagarahole (1977).


23

Slowly he graduated to playing second hero roles in movies such as Pakka Kalla

(1979) and Sneha Sedu (1978) and played the role of full fledged hero in

Amarnath (1978). However it was the 1980 monster hit Antha which catapulted

him to stardom. Based on a novel by H K Anantha Rao and directed by S V

Rajendra Singh (Babu), Antha probably was the first Indian movie that dared to

show the police, politician and the underworld nexus. After this movie,

Ambareesh played hero in most of the movies and some of his successful movies

are Chakravyuha (1983), Snehitara Sawal (1981), Olavina Udugore (1987),

Brahma Vishnu Maheshwara (1988), Sangliana (1988), Indrajit (1989), Rani

Maharani (1990), and Odahuttidavaru (1994). He later switched to character

roles and currently he is a minster in Karnataka Government led by Chief Minister

Siddaramayya.

Brothers Anant Nag and the late Shankar Nag, called the Nag brothers, were

popular stars in the 1980s and 1990s. Both had theatre background and the elder

among the brothers Anant Nag shot to fame with the 1972 hit Bayalu Dari, where

he was paired opposite Kalpana. He was known for his natural acting and his

pairing with Lakshmi was very popular. They have given several hits such as Naa

Ninna Mareyalare (1976), Ibbani Karagitu (1983), Chandanada Gome (1979),

Dhairya Laxmi (1979) and Mudidida Tavare Aralitu (1983). While Anant Nag had

his fan following among the elite and upper middle class, his younger brother

Shankar Nag was popular among masses. Debuting in Ondanondu Kaladalli

(1978), a period action flick directed by Girish Karnad, he won the best actor

award in an international film festival. He became a full fledged commercial movie

hero with Seeta Ramu (1979) and went on to deliver hits such as Auto Raja and


24

Sangliana. He turned a director with Minchina Ota (1980) and followed this up

with Geeta (1981), Januma Janumada Anubhanda (1980), Accident (1985), Nodi

Swamy Navirode Heege (1983) and Ondu Muttina Kathe (1987) (with Rajkumar in

the lead). His movies were “bridge” between art and commercial and have won

many awards (Accident, Minchina Ota). Shankar Nag also made his mark on the

television arena with Malgudi Days, a very popular serial based on stories by R K

Narayan. Shankar Nag’s untimely death in 1990 created a void in Kannada cinema

which is yet to be filled.

The other popular actors of 70 through 80s are Srinath ,known for his portrayal

of romantic roles, and the late Prabhakar who was admired in action roles.

Srinath acted in many movies directed by the legendary Puttanna Kanagal

Shubhamangala (1975), Dharmasere (1979), Manasa Sarovara (1982) and

Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage (1983) ). He is a popular TV actor now and acts

in movies when good roles are offered. Prabhakar acted in several hit action

movies before he passed away in 2001.

Lokesh, Ashok, M. P. Shankar, and Sunder Krishna Urs were other actors who

made their own mark in the industry. Puttana Kanagal paved the way for the

above-mentioned actors as well as Ramakrishna, Kokila Mohan, and

Chandrashekar. Lakshmi, Padma Vaasanthi, Geetha, Madhavi, Saritha, and

Jayamala were some of the actresses who made their mark.

Dwarakish, a famous Kannada artiste who mainly played the role of comedian had

turned producer in 1966 with the movie Mamateya Bandhana. In 1969, he


25

independently produced Mayor Muthanna, under the banner of "Dwaraka Films3".

Rajkumar and Bharathi played the lead roles in this movie. This movie was a great

hit. After Mayor Muthanna (1969), Dwarakish gave a series of box office

successes to Kannada cinema, one after the other for the next two decades. He

became the king of Kannada cinema producers. As an actor, he was often typecast

as a comedian. But some of his movies were comic action movies, also starring the

actor Vishnuvardhan. He is popularly called 'Kulla', meaning a short man in

Kannada. He was the first producer to shoot a Kannada film outside India and the

film was Singapoorinalli Raja Kulla (1978). It was a milestone in the history of

Kannada cinema. He has in total produced 49 Kannada films and acted in more

than 300 films. The earlier movies produced by him were directed by others but

later he started directing his own movies.

S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu, son of D Shankar Singh of Mahatma Pictures, shot to

fame with Nagara Hole in 1976 which is considered one of the best children

movies made in India. He followed it up with hits such as Kiladi Jodi (1978),

Bandhana (1984) and Antha (1981). Rajendra Singh Babu has made movies in

different genres. He has written and directed love stories, war, suspense thrillers

and comedy movies. Many of his films have been adapted from novels or short

stories. He is known for technical finesse and lavishly mounted movies. He is not

only famous in Karnataka but also across all of India. Babu has won numerous

awards for his films and has also directed movies in Hindi ( Sharara, Meri Awaz

Suno and Ek Se Bhale Do ) and Telugu languages.

3 Later named as Dwarakish Chitra


26

Other noted directors during this time are Dorai – Bhagavan, Bhargava and K V

Jayaram. The director duo of Dorai – Bahagwan is the first to make James Bond

style movies in Kannada. Then they went on directing great movies like Kasturi

Nivasa (1971), Eradu Kanasu (1974), Bayalu dhari (1977), Gaali Mathu (1981),

Chandayana Gombe (1979), Hosa Belaku (1982), Benkiya Bale (1983), Jeevana

Chaitra (1992) and more bond style movies such as Goa dalli C.I.D 999 (1968),

Operation Jackpot C.I.D 999 (1969) and Operation Diamond Racket (1978). Apart

from Rajkumar, the director duo directed many movies with actors Ananth Nag

and Lakshmi. They have directed 30 films with Rajkumar as the hero. The duo has

won Puttanna Kanagal Award from State Government of Karnataka for the year

1995–96.

1980s and 1990s.

The 80's saw the emergence of V. Ravichandran, Shivarajkumar and Ramesh

Aravind as top heroes, with a good number of family oriented films made during

this period. Rajendra Singh Babu, D. Rajendra Babu, V. Somashekhar, Sai Prakash

and M.S Rajshekhar are some of the best directors of this era. H. R. Bhargava

directed numerous popular Kannada movies during this period.

Ravichandran and Hamsalekha successfully created a blend exclusively for youth.

Son of the well known movie producer late N Veeraswamy, Ravichandran is a

multifaceted artist who has shown his skill in acting, direction, production and

music direction. He debuted as an actor in Khadeema Kallaru , a movie which he

produced in 1982. His first role as the hero was in 1984 in Nane Raja. In 1987 he


27

directed and acted in Premaloka, considered a landmark film in kannada on

account of its music and treatment. His movie Ramachari was a monster hit in

1991 that cemented his position as a star. He has shifted to mature roles in the

last few years and his recent movie Drishya (2014) was a major box office hit that

won critical acclaim as well. His role as the head of a middle class family was

highly appreciated. Ravichandran brought in actresses from other industries. The

same era also marked the beginning of many actresses such as Bhavya,

Mahalaxmi, Sudha Rani, Tara, Malashri, Anjali, Vanitha Vasu, Anjana, and Shruthi.

Shivaraj Kumar, the eldest son of Rajkumar made his debut in 1986 with the hit

movie Anand and followed it up with two more blockbusters in succession –

Rathasapthami (1986) and Mana Mechchida Hudugi (1987). He has completed

almost three decades in the industry and is still going strong with more than 100

movies under his belt.

During late 70s and 80s, two female actors stood out when it came to star power –

Manjula and Malashree. Manjula who formed a hit pair with Rajkumar ( Eradu

Kanasu, Mayura, etc), Vishnuvardhan (Galate Samsara, Guru Shishyaru) and

Srinath (Besuge) had a great fan following. Her roles as an aggressive woman

were much appreciated in 1980s. Malashree shot to fame in 1989 through the

super hit Nanjundi Kalyana and acted in several movies centered around her

character. It is said that at one point in time the only saleable star in Kannada

movies was Malashree. She is married to producer Ramu and is still active in

movies. She plays the role of a female protagonist in most of her movies.


28

S V Rajendra Singh (Babu), Bharghava, Dorai – Bahgawan and Sai Prakash were

some of the popular directors during this time. The new wave parallel cinema

seemed to lose steam during this time and only Girish Kasaravalli was active with

movies such as Aakramana (2014), Muru Darigalu (1981) and Tabarana Kathe

(1987) in the 80s and Mane (1990), Kraurya (1996) and Thayi Saheba (1997) in

the 90s.

New millennium

The industry suffered heavy losses with the demise of superstars Rajkumar and

Vishnuvardhan. The passing of other actors like Tiger Prabhakar, K. S. Ashwath

and Vajramuni also gave a huge setback to the industry.

This decade also saw the emergence of talented artists like Puneeth Rajkumar

(Rajkumar's third son), Upendra, Sudeep, Darshan (son of actor Thoogudeepa

Srinivas), Ganesh, Diganth, Vijay and Yash. Among the female actors, Ramya,

Rakshita, Radhika, Aindrita Ray, Sharmila Mandre, Bhavana, Pooja Gandhi and

Ragini Dwivedi were in the top league starring in many commercial cinema.

Ace director Upendra turned into an actor and acted in many super hit films like A

(1998), Upendra(1999) (first Kannada movie to release in Japan),

Buddhivantha(2008), Super(2010) and Katari Veera Surasundarangi(2012) (first

full length 3D film in Kannada).


29

Puneet Rajkumar (youngest son of Rajkumar) is popularly called “Power Star”

and is among one of the top heroes in Kannada. He has acted as a child artist in

more than a dozen movies among which Bettada Hoovu had fetched him a

national award as the best child actor in 1985. He made his debut as a hero with

Appu in 2002 and has been delivering a series of hits ever since that include Abhi

(2003), Milana (2007), Arasu (2007), Prithvi (2010), and Anna Bond (2012) to

name just a few.

Sudeep is a major draw in box office for Kannada movies. He made his debut as a

lead actor4 in the 1999 hit Sparsha and is known for his performances. Other than

acting, he has shown his talent in direction as well, with hit movies such as My

Autograph (2006), Veera Madakari (2009), Mat Matalli (2010) , Kempegowda

(2011) etc. Perhaps he is the only actor from Karnataka who is well known

outside on account of the roles he has played in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil movies.

Darshan, son of yester year character actor, late Toogudeepa Srinivas, is another

hero who commends a large fan following. He is known for action roles and his

role as the hero in the historical movie Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (2012)

brought him good reviews. The latest in the line of popular stars in Yash whose

recent movies Gajakesari (2014) and Mr & Mrs Ramachari (2014) have done very

good business at the box office.

Child actor Kishan Shrikanth became the youngest director of a professionally

made feature film in the world (Guinness Book of World Records) by directing

C/o Footpath (2006), at the age of 9 years in Kannada which won him the Best

4 As an actor he debuted in the movie Thayavva in 1997


30

Children's Film National Award in 2007, two Karnataka State Awards and 11

International Awards from countries including Italy, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Qatar,

Iran, USA and UK.

Kannada actress Umashree won the Best Actress National Award for the movie

Gulabi Talkies in 2009. The film was also screened at Osian's Cinefan Festival of

Asian and Arab Cinema and won three awards: Best Film in Indian Competition,

Best Actress in Indian Competition (Umashree), and Best Actor in Indian

Competition (Vinay BM).

Kannada cinema celebrated its 75-year anniversary in 2009. A function was held

on the palace grounds in Bangalore on 1 March 2009 under the direction of V.

Ravichandran, featuring a set resembling an open-winged bird. It was attended by

many stars from Kannada cinema as well as actors from other film industries who

had a stint in Kannada films.

In 2010, Vishnuvardhan's final film, Aptharakshaka, created new box office

records. In the same year, Upendra's 2010 film titled Super collected Rs.35 crores

and broke all the records till date, becoming the highest grossing movie of the

year. Darshan's Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna, produced by Anand Appugol, is

believed to be the most expensive (30 crore) Kannada film to date, and one of the

highest grossing film (40 crore) in the history of Kannada cinema. The highest

grossing Kannada movie is Mungaru Male, collecting 45 crores in its one year

theatrical run.

Critical reception and Parallel cinema


31

Film directors from the Kannada film industry like Girish Kasaravalli, M.S.Sathyu

have garnered international recognition. Other noted directors include Puttanna

Kanagal, G. V. Iyer, T. S. Nagabharana, P. Sheshadri, Girish Karnad, V.

Ravichandran Yogaraj Bhat, Soori, Guruprasad and Upendra who has earned 14th

place in world popular director list Whopopular.com.

Some influential Kannada films include Samskara (1970) (based on a novel by U.

R. Ananthamurthy), Vamshavruksha (1971), Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu (1974),

Chomana Dudi (1975), Hamsageethe (1975), Ghatashraddha (1977), Kaadu

Kudure (1979), Bara (1979), Maanasa Sarovara (1982), Accident (1985),

Tabarana Kathe (1987), Kraurya (1996), Thaayi Saheba (1997), Mane (2000) and

Dweepa (2002)

Following is the list of major national awards won by Kannada cinema

CATEGORY : BEST FILM ( PRESIDENT’S GOLDEN LOTUS) Year Film Director

1970 Samskara T Pattabhiramareddy

1975 Chomana Dudi B V Karanth

1977 Ghatashraddha Girish Kasaravalli

1986 Tabarana Kathe Girish Kasaravalli

1997 Thayi Saheba Girish Kasaravalli

2000 Dweepa Girish Kasaravalli

1973 Kaadu* (2nd best – Silver) Girish Karnad

CATEGORY : BEST CHILDREN FILM Year Film Director

1979 Dangeyedda Makkalu U S Vadiraj


32

1989 Jambu Sawari Lalitha Ravi

CATEGORY : BEST DIRECTOR Year Film Director

1971 Vamshavriksha B V Karanth & Girish Karnad

1976 Pallavi P Lankesh

CATEGORY : BEST ACTOR (MALE) Year Film Actor

1975 Chomana Dudi M V Vasudeva Rao

1986 Tabarana Kathe Charuhasan

2014 Naanu Avanalla Avalu Sanchari Vijay

CATEGORY : BEST ACTOR (FEMALE)

Year Film Director

1973 Kaadu Nandini Bhaktavatsala

2005 Hasina Tara

2008 Gulabi Talkies Umashree

CATEGORY : BEST CHILD ACTOR Year Film Actor

1973 Kaadu G S Nataraj

1977 Ghatashraddha Ajith Kumar

1985 Bettada Huvu Punith Rajkumar

1994 Kotreshi Kanasu Vijaya Raghavendra

1995 Kraurya Master Vishwas

CATEGORY : BEST SINGER & MUSIC DIRECTION Year Film Winner


33

1975 Hamsageete Balamuralikrishna (Singer)

1976 Rishyashringa B V Karanth (Music)

1977 Ghatashraddha B V Karanth (Music)

1978 Kadukudure S. Subbanna (Singer)

1986 Madhvacharya Malamuralikrishna (Music)

1993 Jeevana Chaitra Rajkumar (Singer)

1995 Pachakshara Gavayi S P Balasubramaniam (Singer)

1995 Panchakshara Gavayi Hamsalekha (Music)

CATEGORY : BEST PHOTOGRAPHER Year Film Director

1976 Rishyashringa S Ramachandra

1977 Kokila Balu Mahendra

1981 Mooru Darigalu Shripad R Bhat

2002 Dweepa H Ramachandra

SPECIAL CATEGORY AWARDS Year Film Category

1978 Grahana National Integration

1985 Accident Social Concern

1987 Pushpaka Vimana Popular and Entertainment

1989 Santa Shishunala Sharifa National Integration

1993 Devara Kadu Environmental Concern

1997 Bhoomi Geetha Environmental Concern

2000 Munnudi Social Concern

2005 Haseena Family Planning

2007 Kallarali Hoovagi National Integration

OTHER CATEGORY AWARDS Year Film Winner

1986 Madhvacharya P Krishnamurthy for costume design


34

1991 Mysore Mallige K S Narasimhaswamy for song (lyrics)

1997 Thayisaheba Jayamala Acting (special award)

1997 Thayisaheba Ramesh Desia for Art Direction

1997 Thayi Saheba Vaishali Kasaravalli for Costume Design

2005 Haseena Ishrat Nissar for Costume Design

A comparison of National Awards won in major categories across languages

Language Best Film Best

Director Best

Actor(M) Best

Actor(F) Assamese 1 1 0 1 Beary 1 0 0 0 Bengali 22 15 4 7 English 0 1 2 3 Hindi 13 8 21 20 Malayalam 11 12 13 5 Kannada 6 2 3 3 Marathi 4 1 3 2 Punjabi 0 1 0 0 Sanskrit 2 0 0 0 Telugu 0 0 0 3 Tamil 2 4 7 6 Urdu 0 0 0 1

Part 3: Kannada Cinema – Issues and Concerns

35

PART 3

KANNADA CINEMA – ISSUES AND CONCERNS1 The first Kannada movie (talkie) was released in 1934 and it has been 80 years

since then. From a lowly 2 movies per year in the beginning, the industry now

makes about 125 films in a year. It has seen great pioneering efforts from Gubbi

Veeranna, B R Pantulu, D Shankar Singh, R Nagendra Rao to name a few. It had

Rajkumar, an actor par excellence and a star that shone brightly followed by

outstanding performers such as Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Anant Nag, Jayanti,

Bharati, Aarati and many more. Its contribution to parallel cinema has been

significant with Girish Kasaravalli leading the brigade that constitutes of G V Iyer,

B V Karanth, Girish Karnad and so forth. Directors like Puttanna Kanagal and

Siddalingayya demonstrated that they are second to none when it comes to the

craft of film making.

However, even after 80 years, the industry seems to be still in the struggling

stage. A report on film industry in India mentions that there is a resurgence of

regional cinema in India, which has been attracting investments from major film

studios to tap potential of these markets. However, Kannada cinema is not

getting this benefit as the growth seems to be happening in Marathi, Bengali,

1 The content in this section draws from many secondary sources and primary sources from the following five film personalities who were interviewed by the author –

Mr. Thomas D’Souza, President, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Mr.B M Harish, Hon.Secretary, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Mr. K C N Chandru, Film Producer and Distributor Mr. N M Kumar, Film Producer and Exhibitor Mr. S V Rajendra Singh Babu, Producer, Director and Chairman, Karnataka Chalanachitra

Academy.


36

Punjabi and Bhojpuri Cinema2. Certain issues such as dominance of non-Kannada

movies in the state, financing & distribution problems, that that plagued the

industry 80 years ago, continue to plague the industry even now. In addition

there are newer issues. Firstly, the revenue windows for movies have shortened

drastically and the fate of any movie is decided in the first 3 days. This puts

tremendous challenge on the producers on leveraging on multiple source of

revenues in a short time. Secondly, with more than 800 television channels

offering a variety of content to more than 100 million pay – TV households3, the

industry has the challenge of luring consumers to theatres from their cozy living

rooms. Thirdly, the cost of movie making itself has skyrocketed with high star

remunerations and high input costs in all other aspects of movie making. Fourth,

with technology accessible to everyone cheaply, the issue of piracy is a challenge

that the industry is struggling with. Fifth, the movie makers are faced with the

challenge of adapting to the ever changing consumer tastes and preferences.

Sixth, Kannada cinema still depends on the shrinking number of single screens

and has not exploited the potential of the new distribution channel called

multiplexes. The following section highlights the issues currently being faced by

the Kannada movie industry.

1. The Issue of Kannada Identity

Noted movie maker KCN Chandru feels that people of Karnataka do not have one

“Kannada Identity”. Hence they do not patronize Kannada movies as much as

2 “Film Industry in India : New Horizons”, Ernst & Young Report, www.indiabusiness.nic.in accessed on 16th August 2015 3 “Film Industry in India – New Horizons” Ernst & Young Report, www.indiabusiness.nic.in accessed on 15th August 2015

http://www.indiabusiness.nic.in/



37

Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam people patronizing their own language movies. As

the number of people watching Kannada movies is lower, producers have severe

limitations on spending lavishly on star cast, location etc. As a result of this, the

quality of Kannada movies pales in comparison to Hindi and other south Indian

language movies.

However, there seems to be some merit in the lack of Kannada identity argument

especially when it comes to movies. Karnataka can be broadly said to consist of

four distinct geographical regions as applicable to the movie industry.

Mysore Karnataka

Consisting of the erstwhile Mysore province. This includes the southern,

south central and south-eastern districts of Karnataka. The language

mostly spoken is Kannada, and in some border districts Tamil and Telugu

dominate.

Mumbai Karnataka

Consisting of the districts that fell under the erstwhile Mumbai

presidency under British rule. This includes the north western districts

such as Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkot, Vijayapura etc. Kannada is

spoken extensively but a significant Marathi and Urdu speaking

population exists. Hindi is generally spoken and understood by the

majority.


38

Hyderabad Karnataka

Mainly made up of the erstwhile Nizam province. This area includes

districts such as Raichur, Bellary, Bidar and Kalaburgi which are towards

the north eastern part of Karnataka. Kannada is spoken but Urdu and

Hindi are spoken extensively

Coastal Karnataka

Consists mainly of Udupi, South Kanara and North Kanara districts which

were earlier part of the Madras presidency. All people speak Kannada but

local languages such as Tulu and Konkani dominate here. Tulu movies are

patronized extensively.

These geographical zones within Karnataka exhibit significant diversity. The

people belonging to these regions not only have different mother tongues (Tulu,

Konkani, Kodava etc) but they also do not speak the same Kannada. For example

the Kannada spoken in northern Karnataka has its own accent and contains lot of

words from Marathi and Hindi. The people are culturally very different and there

is variation in everything from their eating habits to the way they dress. Their

customs are also different. This in fact poses quite a few challenges to movie

makers in Kannada. First of all, there is no guarantee that the theme liked by one

region would be liked by others. Secondly, the subtlety and the metaphors used

in language is not understood by all. For example, an award winning movie


39

“Ondanondu Kaladalli” made by noted director Girish Karnad, did not run much

in southern parts of Karnataka as the movie was made with Kannada spoken in

northern Karnataka.

One outcome of the diversity within the state is that it is difficult for all people to

imagine a holistic all-inclusive Kannada identity. Perhaps this is the reason why

Kannada people create an impression that they lack pride in being Kannada

people. They perhaps do not attach very strongly to Kannada language and

culture. The detachment may lead to ignorance and negative perception as well.

Chetan Nadiger4 feels that many people believe that Kannada movies are no good

as compared to movies being made in other languages. Their opinion seems to

stem from pre-conceived notions rather than actual experiences as a majority

these people would have not watched Kannada movies in years. He argues that

an industry that makes more than 120 movies in a year must be knowing the

business well.

While what is said above is a testimony to detachment, there are issues with

Kannada people from the border districts. M N Kumar says people from the

border districts such as C R Nagar, Belagavi, Bidar, Raichur, Bellary,

Chikkaballapur and Kolar do not habitually watch Kannada movies. There is a

significant non-Kannada population in these areas which prefers to watch non-

Kannada movies which are exhibited extensively in these districts. Needless to

say, they lure Kannada audience as well.

4 Udayavani, Kalavihara section, 7th August 2015


40

2. The Issue of Limited Market

Mr. Kumar N M and K C N Chandru, both well known producers and exhibitors

feel Kannada movies simply can not match other language movies in their budget

as the market is limited. There seems to be some merit in this argument. Hindi

movies have a national plus international markets and hence can spend more

than Rs. 50 - 60 crores on a movie. For example, the 2014 Aamir Khan starrer

PK, dubbed into Chinese collected more than Rs.100 crore in China alone.5Tamil

movies too have markets outside India in south Asian markets such as Malaysia,

Singapore and Sri Lanka. Telugu movies are screened in the USA. Moreover the

population of undivided Andhra and Tamil Nadu is significantly higher than

Karnataka and, the movie watching habits in these states is higher than in

Karnataka. However, there are people in the industry who believe this is not a

major issue. For example, noted Kannada movie producer Rockline Venkatesh,

on the other hand, feels that if you make a good movie it is possible to lure

people into theatres6. Supporting this argument in a newspaper article,7 Jogi

cites the stupendous success of the Telugu movie Bahubali which collected Rs. 9

lakhs in 4 days in a small place called Madhugiri with just 28000 population. This

was in spite of the ticket rates being raised during the exhibition of this movie.

Jogi goes ahead and says that if only one third of the people in Kannada watch a

movie, the collection within Karanataka itself will be around Rs.200 crores.

5 “Passage to India” by Ananth Krsihnan, India Today July 13, 2015 6 Udayavani July 2015. 7 Udayavani , 17th July 2015


41

More than this, the problem seems to be that the Kannada movie industry has

not been able to expand the market in the last few decades. In fact, it seems to

have shrunk8 as compared to earlier years. S V Rajendra Singh Babu, a very

experienced movie producer and director, says that in late 1940s and early 50s

Kannada movies were being screened in a significant number of theatres of

border districts of neighboring states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The trend seems to have not only vanished but reversed in recent times, with

border districts of Karnataka exhibiting more and more of other language movies

and less of Kannada movies.

3. Lack of Movie Making Ecosystem

Movie making infrastructure in Karnataka has not developed much in the last

few decades. The existing studios seem to lack all the facilities required to shoot

movies. One reason for the lack of development of facilities can be attributed to

the absence of entrepreneurial initiative by media and entertainment industry

persons towards developing infrastructure. The neighboring states have set good

examples. In Telugu industry, veteran actors such as. N T Rama Rao, A.

Nageswar Rao, Krishna have all invested in studios and movie production.9 The

crowning glory is the famed Ramoji film city built by Ramoji Rao. In Tamil movie

industry, actors such as Sivaji Ganesan invested in theatres. In Kannada, such

efforts have been relatively less. Though personalities such as Balakrishna and

Abbayi Nayudu did make efforts to set up studios in Karnataka, success eluded

8 Relative to the increase in population. Population of Karnataka in 1970s was estimated to be 30 million while it is about 60 million in 2015. The increase in the number of kannada movie watchers may not have increased proportionately. 9 Ramakrishna Studios, Annapoorna Studios and Padmalaya Pictures.


42

them which may have acted as a deterrent to others. Producer K C N Chandru

feels that Karnataka simply does not have the right ecosystem for making

movies. Other than the problems of studios, he points to high level of

bureaucracy to get permission to shoot movies in out door locations.

Film maker S V Rajendra Singh and Thomas D’souza10 feel that good film

institutes can contribute a lot towards improving quality of films. They are of the

opinion that Karnataka needs something like FTII11. Though Karnataka has a film

institute in Bangalore called Adarsh Film & TV Institute (AFTI), the scope of this

institute is limited to Acting, Direction, Playback singing, Editing and

Cinematography. On the other hand, FTII has a wide range of diploma and

graduate programmes in various facets of film making such as direction,

screenplay, acting, cinematography, sound recording, sound design, editing, art

direction and production design. FTII boasts of illustrious alumni such as

Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Jaya Bachchan (all in acting), Adoor

Goplakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli, Rajkumar Hirani, Sanjay Leela Bansali (in

direction) and Rasool Pookutti (technical) who have made it big at national and

international levels. It is unfortunate that Adarsh Film & TV Institute is not in a

position to demonstrate such a track record. Thomas D’Souza is of the opinion

that AFTI is short of resources and quality inputs which impacts the output. Film

Institutes other than FTII have generally not fared well in India. However with

the advent of private entrepreneurship in this arena, things seem to be

improving. Some noteworthy examples are “Whistling Woods” film institute set

10 President, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce 11 Film and Television Institute of India located in Pune.


43

up by well known Bollywood director Subash Ghai (another FTII alumnus) and L

V Prasad Film and TV academies in Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and

Hyderabad.

Kannada movie industry has also not been able to collaborate with International

studios, which have been showing increased interest in India. Studios such as

Warner Bros, Disney, Fox and Dreamworks have tied up with local production

houses UTV and Viacom18. International collaborations can help the local film

makers to leverage the experience of the big studios in increasing the reach,

controlling the cost and planning the projects efficiently12.

Unlike Hindi and other language movies, which are funded by professional

financial institutions, Kannada movies still depend largely on private finance.

This impacts adversely in multiple dimensions. Firstly, private finance is costly

as compared to banks and hence the risk on the producer is very high when

money is borrowed from private financiers. Secondly, private financiers may

want to bring in their perceived expertise into the movies that they have made in

the form of recommendations and influences. This curbs the creative freedom

and flexibility that the movie makers would like to have. Though cinema is now

recognized as an industry, and finance is available from professional bodies,

Kannada cinema, rather than exploiting this, seems to have abused this. S V

Rajendra Singh Babu feels that banks are hesitant to finance Kannada movies

because the loan repayment track record is not good. Same is the scenario with

12 “Film Industry in India : New Horizons” , Ernst & Young Report, www.indiabusiness.nic.in accessed on 16th August 2015



44

TV channels, which is a potential revenue earner for movies. Producers can sell

TV broadcasting rights at good prices but it appears that the channels are

cautious with Kannada movies. Producer – director Sheshadri, who has made

several successful movies, points out that the channels did support producers

earlier and there were instances where payment was made for TV rights even

while the movie was under production. However, most of these movies never got

completed and this made them stay away from Kannada movies.13

4. Shortage of Theatres in Karnataka

There are about 10500 single screen cinemas and 900 multiplexes in India.

These numbers are considered miniscule for a country with a population of over

1300 million people. There are just 10 screens per million people in India as

compared to USA, which boasts of 120 screens per million people.14 In the

recent times, there has been a significant growth in multiplexes and all the major

players such as PVR, Cinepolis, Inox have big expansion plans for multiplexes.

Around 60% of the screens in India are located in South India which is still

largely dominated by single screens. Among the south Indian states Andhra

Pradesh has about 2800 single screens while Tamil Nadu has 1546. Kerala ranks

next with 1015 single screens. Karnataka lags behind with 959 single screens.15

Bengaluru has the largest share of 150 single screens out of this number.

13 Sudha kannada weekly, 16th July 2015 14 Anand J, “Show Time”, Business Today, 13th May 2012 15 Website of Film Federation of India accessed on 10th August 2015. However, S V Rajendra Singh Babu is of the opinion that many out of this are dysfunctional and pegs the number around 700.


45

It may be argued that in proportion to the movies produced in Kannada

compared to Tamil and Telugu, the number of theatres in Karnataka should be

adequate. However this does not seem to be the case as the penetration of non-

Kannada movies has been very deep in Karnataka. Out of the 950 theatres, it is

estimated that about 300 – 350 theatres exhibit non-Kannada movies at any

given point in time. In fact, the recent Telugu block buster movie Bahubali was

released in as many as 250 theatres across Karanataka16. While Bangalore has

always been a good market for non-Kannada movies, Telugu and Tamil movies

were hardly screened in north Karnataka two decades ago. But now Dharwad, a

small town in north Karnataka which has 6 single screens in total, was showing

Bahubali in three theatres.

Producer M N Kumar feels that the theatres in Karnataka show non-Kannada

movies because there are not enough Kannada movies available. He points that

popular actors having “pull factor” such as Puneet Rajkumar, Sudeep, Darshan,

Yash and Shivaraj Kumar are very choosy and act in very few movies and this

creates shortage of Kannada movies that guarantee viewership.

Apart from increase in the share of non-Kannada movies in theatres, there also is

the problem of single screens shutting down due to economic non-viability. A

decade ago the number of single screen in India was 13700 and now it has

shrunk to 10500. While some have converted to multiplexes, or malls or wedding

halls, many have shut down. Multiplexes, growth of television and widespread

16 Bahubali was simultaneously released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. All these versions were released in Karnataka.


46

availability of DVDs and movies on smart phones and You Tube are cited to be

among the factors behind the decline of single screens.17

Karnataka is not spared from this problem. Many single screens have shut shop

not only in Bangalore but also in places such as Mysore, Hubli, Dharwad, etc.

Decades ago there used to be mobile theatres called “Touring Talkies” which

went from place to place to exhibit movies. They mainly operated in smaller

places catering to the rural folk. At one point in time there were as many as 600

mobile theatres operating in Karnataka and a majority of them were exhibiting

Kannada movies. These have been closed down on account of Government

regulations to compulsorily move towards permanent theatres.

Another major problem for Kannada movies is they are not able to secure

screening in high-end theatres given the high rents for these theatres. The

producers of cash strapped Kannada movies would like the theatres to exhibit

movies on percentage basis but the owners are not ready for this since the other

language movies are ready for rental agreements.

5. Poor Condition of Theatres

Today movie watching is not just functional. People go to theatres for an overall

good experience. For them, entertainment is not just the content of the movie but

includes the end-to-end experience. In large cities, especially metros, people

travel long distance wading through bad traffic to reach movie halls and they

17 Website of National Business accessed on 10th August 2015. ‘Tax & multiplexes make India’s ingle screen cinemas unviable” by Rebecca Bundhun, 3rd May, 2014


47

expect good parking space, courteous box office personnel, good seats, clean

ambience, fresh snacks and air conditioning that works. Though the viewer

segments that watch movies in multiplexes and single screens is different, a

majority of the single screen audience have watched movies in multiplexes at

least a couple of times. This sets their expectations in terms of theatre facilities

and even though they may not expect multiplex type facilities in single screens,

their tolerance to sub optimal facilities seems to have come down drastically.

The result is that they would rather avoid theatres, which they perceive as

lacking in facilities. When Kannada movies are shown in such theatres, they

would rather not watch the movies.

Audience today, have better alternatives to watching movies in poorly

maintained theatres. The experience of viewing movies and TV programs at

home is enriched on account of high definition telecasting by many channels. 3D

TVs are making inroads into the living rooms of upper middle class families. The

time between theatrical release and TV premiers is getting shortened by the day

and people do not mind waiting for the movie to be on TV.

6. Issue of Legislation on Multiplexes

In April 2015, the State government has issued a diktat to the various

multiplexes to ensure prime time screening of Kannada movies and to make

tickets more affordable to the viewers. The Chief Minister of the state held a

meeting where he said that he had directed multiplexes to give primacy to

Kannada films. Many industry representatives including actors Jaggesh and

Jayamala and Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy Chairperson S V Rajendra Singh


48

contended that multiplexes were neglecting Kannada movies. They said that the

ticket prices were exorbitant and therefore Kannada people were not watching

the movies in multiplexes. Multiplex owners on the other hand denied this by

claiming that they had not priced the tickets over Rs.130. They pointed out that

most of the Kannada movies do not do well as a result of which they have to cut

short the screening hours. Exceptions to this have been hit movies like Mungaru

Male and Ranna that were screened for maximum hours in multiplexes.

Multiplexes seem to be apprehensive of allotting prime time slots for Kannada

movies due to low returns. Their investment and operating costs being high, they

would want to allot prime time to movies that people watch in large numbers.

In Karnataka a large number of multiplexes are coming up especially in

Bengaluru. The multiplexes are managed professionally and they pay their dues

to the government fairly and in time. Hence the government may not want to

restrict the multiplexes in terms of mandating exhibition of Kannada movies,

timing of exhibitions and the admission rates. On the other hand, S V Rajendra

Singh Babu feels that there should be some compulsion on part of the

multiplexes to show Kannada movies and also to charge lower admission rates to

viewers of Kannada movies. The admission rates for the first two rows in

multiplexes in Tamil Nadu is pegged at Rs.10 and in Maharashtra state there is a

compulsion on part of multiplexes to exhibit Marathi movies18. Compared to this,

Kannada cinema seems to be at a disadvantage with regard to multiplexes.

18 “Sudha” kannada weekly , 16th July 2015


49

7. High Cost of Making Movies

At present, it costs on an average about Rs. 4 crores to make a Kannada movie

and about 120-150 movies are made every year. This works out to an investment

of about Rs.500 crores every year. According to Karnataka Film Chamber of

Commerce (KFCC), only a handful of these recover costs, while most of the others

incur losses19. The market size for Kannada movies was estimated to be around

Rs. 200 crores only in 200820. Factoring in inflation, increased ticket prices and

possible increase of revenue due to increased viewership, the current (2014)

would be around 300 crores21. This shows that the Kannada movie industry is

making losses to the tune of Rs.200 crores every year. Hence compared to the

revenue side, the cost of making movies in Kannada is high. It is highly doubtful

whether an industry, which depends largely on private finance and is just 2% in

revenues among south Indian movies can sustain this trend.

According to industry experts, the main reason for this is not inflation but

inefficiencies in movie making. If a Telugu or a Malayalam movie is completed in

4-5 months time, Kannada movies apparently take 2 more months. Producer and

exhibitor N M Kumar says that there is too much of wastage on account of too

much shooting and this makes the cycle time longer for Kannada movies. He

attributes this to tentativeness among directors who are new and do not have

the right experience. While they are passionate about making movies ,they do

not have the adequate training. The tradition of “apprenticeship” under well

known directors, seems to have vanished from the industry.

19 This was corroborated by Thomas D’Souza, President, KFCC. In addition various websites listed only about a dozen kannada movies as hits during the period 2010 – 2015. 20 www.indiantelevision.com accessed on 15th August 2015 21 authors estimate

http://www.indiantelevision.com/


50

8. Issue of Dubbing Movies into Kannada

Perhaps Karnataka is the only state where dubbing from other languages into

Kannada is not allowed. Movies, television serials and all other visual

entertainment contents in other languages, are not allowed to be dubbed into

Kannada. This ban has been in force for more than 50 years. The ban has no legal

sanctity and has been enforced by private bodies such as Karnataka Film

Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) and other similar organizations. This was done six

decades ago in order to give boost to the then ailing Kannada film industry under

the aegis of the legendary actor Rajkumar. This indeed has helped the industry to

scale from 10 movies a year to more than 100 movies a year now. However the

ban still continues which according to legal experts, is unconstitutional. Indian

Constitution allows freedom of expression and free movement of people and

languages within the country. No state can discriminate against the other

languages. Even though the ban on dubbing is unofficial, it works almost like a

government imposed ban.

Opinion seems to be divided on the issue of dubbing movies into Kannada

language. Film and entertainment industry people, especially the actors and

directors, feel that it will impact the industry adversely and destroy the local

industry. The fear seems to be that if dubbing is allowed hundreds of English,

Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and other language movies will flood the market

and eventually kill Kannada film industry. As it is the industry is facing severe

competition from other language movies and if these movies are dubbed into


51

Kannada, even the people watching Kannada movies will shift to movies dubbed

into Kannada language.

On the other hand, persons in favour of dubbing argue that it will enable the

habit of watching movies in Kannada, thereby increasing receptivity to movies

made in Kannada. Dubbing can also expose exclusive Kannada audience to good

movies from other languages thereby refining their tastes. This in turn, would

make the Kannada film industry to seek better stories, good production values

and suitable star cast. Many in the industry believe that there is a section of

producers who want the dubbing ban to be lifted and there are some who even

seem to have already purchased dubbing rights of some non-Kannada movies.

However, at present no one is crossing the implicit “no dubbing” diktat22.

Noted Kannada actor Ramesh Aravind is of the opinion that instead of trying to

stop others through restrictions, it would be better to strengthen our practices.

However, he points that in other states, there are indirect tactics of preventing

dubbing such as higher tax rates for dubbed movies etc. He feels that such tactics

enable only extraordinary movies to be dubbed.23 A very well known Director

points that in many countries outside India (such as in China and France), it is

mandatory to exhibit foreign movies only after they have been dubbed into local

language. However, the audience in these countries predominantly speak in local

language with hardly any knowledge of foreign languages. Hence it only makes

sense to dub foreign language movies. On the other hand, the audience in

22 Sudha kannada weekly, 16th July 2015 23 Udayavani, Manipal Edition, 30th July 2015


52

Karnataka have some amount of familiarity with other south Indian languages

and Hindi and hence are likely to be comfortable watching movies in these

languages. Moreover, all South Indian languages come from the common stock of

Dravidian languages. It is therefore relatively easier for a South Indian to

understand another Dravidian language as compared to a Chinese trying to

understand a foreign language. Anyway, dubbing movies into Kannada has been

and continues to be a sensitive issue. Strong, diverse opinions exist among major

stakeholders such as actors, producers, distributors, directors and exhibitors. On

top of this, the issue of dubbing has been much politicized. A major protest has

been planned on 26th August 2015 in Bengaluru where more than one lakh

people are expected to participate.24

9. Issue of the Star System

While movies can attract audience through genre25, narrative or production

values, it is the stars that initially pull the crowd into the theatres. In the

language of the cinema trade stars are supposed to ensure minimum

guarantee26. This is an universal phenomena observed without exception in

Hollywood, Bollywood, and in south Indian cinema. In Kannada cinema,

Rajkumar had tremendous crowd pulling ability which is unmatched till today.

Others such as Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Sreenath,

Ravichandran and Upendra have had their own fan following. In the current

times Ramesh, Shivaraj Kumar, Sudeep, Puneeth Rajkumar, Darshan and Yash

are considered to be stars with good brand name and crowd pulling ability.

24 Udayavani, 9th August 2015, Manipal Edition. 25 A particular type of story – for example horror is a genre 26 An assured minimum revenue during the initial days of the release on account of fans who watch a particular star’s movie irrespective of reviews.


53

However, the star system comes with its own baggage. First of all, the cost of the

movie shoots up when a star is signed on and hence not everyone can afford to

have stars in their movies. This suits the stars as well because they are choosy

and would like to avoid over exposure. The major stars in Kannada cinema

restrict themselves to 1-2 movies per year and that adds up to about 10 movies

per year. This leaves out 90% of the movies and they need to struggle to secure

attention. M N Kumar says that there are no takers for these movies and hence

exhibitors prefer non-Kannada movies. Karnataka has always welcomed movies

from other languages and popular stars from Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and

Malayalam have enjoyed good fan following in the state. Another dis-advantage

of the start system has been that stars have their own preferences in terms of

certain crew members and the manner in which the movie needs to take shape.

With inexperienced directors holding the baton, it becomes easy for the stars to

dominate the movie making process. A well-known producer says that while

Tamil and Telugu stars wait for the directors to summon them, the situation is

reverse in Karnataka with the directors doting on stars.

10. Unethical Practices at Theatres

The State Government has given tax holiday for Kannada movies while non-

Kannada movies are levied a tax of 30%. This was done with an intention of

making Kannada movies popular through lower ticket pricing. However, this

does not seem to be yielding the intended results. Audience do not seem to mind

watching non – Kannada movies even though they need to pay a higher price for

admission. Even at a lower ticket pricing audience do not seem to think Kannada

movies are worth watching. In market where the customers have several


54

alternatives (other language movies) available to them and each product is

perceived differently by them in terms of its features27, customers will make

choices that will maximize their utility28. Moreover, as the non-Kannada movies

are released in good theatres, customers may not mind paying a higher price for

admission.

S V Rajendra Singh Babu says that the tax-free facility given to Kannada cinema is

being exploited by single screens who show non-Kannada movies and charge

higher admission rates (as 30% sales tax). On records, these movies are shown

as Kannada movies and taxes are not paid to the Government. This he says is one

of the main reasons for single screens prefer to show non-Kannada movies. On

the other hand, M N Kumar thinks otherwise. He feels while a handful of theatres

could be doing this, a majority of the theatres in Karnataka are owned by

Kannadigas29 and they would any day prefer showing Kannada movies. The

problem according to Kumar is that there are not enough sustainable Kannada

movies to screen. He also points to the practice of producer – distributors

demanding high advance payments from theatre owners, which is making the

theatre owners turn away from Kannada movies.

At the same time, Kumar also points to the practice of hiking the ticket prices

when new, much awaited blockbuster movies are released. Theatres want to

take advantage of the demand and charge premium for the admission. There are

instances where ticket prices go as high as Rs.1000. When viewers from middle

27 In the context of movies, features would mean star cast, story, reviews, production values, music etc. 28 Similarly utility in the context of movies would mean entertainment value and the overall experience. 29 Kannada people – people of Kannada Origin


55

class pay such high prices to watch one movie, they may not be in a position to

spend money on watching another movie in that month.

11. Issue of Quality & Originality

There is a perception that Kannada cinema lacks originality and is of lower

quality as compared to its counterparts across the state borders. There is some

support to this argument as Kannada cinema seems to borrow heavily from

other languages. S V Rajendra Singh Babu says that 20 – 25 % of the movies

made in Kannada are remakes of hits from other languages. The tradition of

remakes is not new to the Indian film industry. There have been remakes from

Hindi into regional languages and visa versa. Drishyam, a recent Malayalam

blockbuster has been made into Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Same was the

case with Tamil hit Sooryavansham a few years ago. In the 1970s hit Kannada

movies such as Nagarahavu, Bhootayyana Maga Aiyyu and Shankar Guru were

remade in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. However, in recent times more number of

other language movies is being made in Kannada with stray cases of Kannada

movies being made in other languages. Most of the 48 movies produced by

Dwarakeesh were remakes. Earlier stars such as Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh

did not have qualms about acting in remakes. In fact for some stars, the biggest

hits of their career have been remakes. Among the current stars Sudeep,

Darshan, Puneet Rajkumar and Upendra have all acted in remake movies. The

main attraction for remaking hit movies is that it has a formula that has already

succeeded. In addition to this, for cash strapped industry, remakes are a way of

cutting down developmental costs in movie making. However, many remake

movies have failed either because they have been watched by many in their


56

original version, or they have been remade badly. The themes of many remake

movies are alien to Kannada culture and the makers do not seem to take

cognizance of this. There are instances where the original has been copied frame-

to-frame, dialogue-to-dialogue and song-to-song without any effort being made

to localize them.

12. Channel Conflict

Movie making is considered as a creative process. It may begin as an idea, an

ideal, or a thin story line. Yesteryear actor Dev Anand, in his autobiography30

writes that he read R K Narayan’s novel “The Guide” in one sitting and decided to

make it into a movie. Without losing a moments time he seems to have made an

overseas call to the author to convey his intent. About the all time blockbuster

Hindi movie Sholay it is said that it began with a two-line story of a retired army

officer taking the help of two crooks to nab a notorious dacoit. However, to set

the movie making process in motion, the first requirement is someone with

money to produce the movie. This person may come with his own money or

borrow the money from the market. The Director then takes charge to mobilize

other resources (technical crew and star cast) and actually creates a product.

The product (movie) is sold to distributors and from there on it goes to

exhibitors (theatres) for consumption by the audience (consumer). Hence the

value chain for movies can be depicted as below -

30 “Romancing with Life”, 2007, Penguin India


57

There is interdependency among entities shown above and for an efficient

delivery from the point of origin to the point of consumption, it is necessary that

there is trust and commitment between parties. Unfortunately, this seems to be

lacking in Kannada film industry. Producers seem to be unhappy with the kind of

power that the financiers wield and the demand of distributors. On the other

hand, distributors and exhibitors seem to be in a tussle. The producers,

distributors and exhibitors blame the consumer for lacking in “Kannada Pride”

and not patronizing Kannada movies and the audience blames the poor quality of

movies. By and large, none of the entities are content with the way things are and

this probably acts as a deterrent to creativity, innovation and experimentation

that is badly required in the industry at present times.

13. Unattractiveness of the Industry

An industry becomes attractive investors when all the conditions are conducive

Financier

Producer

Distributor

Exhibitor

Consumer


58

for them. An investor would not want the industry to be such that anyone can

enter and leave it as and when they wish. This increases competition and

reduces seriousness. An investor also would like to be in an industry where

consumers do not have much choice so that he is assured of his business. He

would also like to be comfortable on the supply side with enough power on the

supplier. If we look at the movie industry, it is the producer who invests money

and takes the risk. Hence when we analyze the Kannada movie industry with the

producer as the focal point, the picture that emerges is as follows -

a) Low Entry Barriers

On an average it costs about Rs. 4- 5 crores to make a Kannada movie.

This is much less as compared to making movies in Hindi, Tamil or

Telugu. The movie industry is glamorous for outsiders and it may attract

people who have enough money to test waters here. Obviously Kannada

movies are less risky than making movies in other languages. The

financing of movie has never been as organized as other industries and

hence money can dubious sources can also flow into this industry easily.

Probably this is the reason for an increase in the number of movies made

in Kannada in spite of a majority of them not doing well.

b) Bargaining Power of Buyer

The primary buyers of the movies are distributors and they seem to enjoy

a lot of bargaining power with lots of choices around. The recent Telugu

blockbuster Bahubali was sold at Rs.18 crores for distribution in

Karnataka in three languages. With such attractive alternatives available


59

to them, distributors are in a powerful position in the industry. The

exhibitors make the other set of buyers. Kannada movies find it hard to

make it to multiplexes and good theatres which shows that the producers

and distributors have hardly any power on them. The third set of buyers

are the audience at the final consumption point. Though they do not

directly transact with the producers, the sheer amount of choice they

have, puts the producers in a defensive position.

c) Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Suppliers to the industry are artistes, technical crew, financiers, and the

infrastructure providers such as studios. Among these, producers do not

seem to have power with two of the most important entities – stars and

financiers. They also do not have bargaining power with studios if the

movie is shot outside Karnataka. Hence the bargaining power of the

suppliers can be deemed high.

d) Threat of Substitutes

Audience today have lot of alternatives when it comes to seeking short

duration entertainment. First of all movie watching can be substituted by

Television viewing which gives a plethora of attractive options in various

categories other than movies – sports, serials, news, lifestyle, music,

adventure etc. Secondly, movie watching in theatre can be substituted by

watching entertaining content on You Tube through internet. Shopping at

malls or watching IPL in stadium can also substitute movies. Hence the

threat of substitutes is also high.


60

e) Threat of Intense Segment Rivalry

If we consider the segment that watches Kannada movies, the same

segment is potential audience for Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil

movies. About 700 movies from these languages collectively compete

with 125 Kannada movies for the share of wallet of audience. Hence

within the segment there is intense rivalry.

Part 4: Consumer Study

61

PART 4

CONSUMER STUDY

Movie making is a creative process and they are made with great passion by the

people involved. The directors and the artistes may be convinced about the

movie ; the critics may praise it skies but it is ultimately the consumer (viewer)

who decides the fate of the movies. They decide its fate in 3 days time and

nothing can super cede their judgment. Exactly 40 years ago, critics panned a

movie by calling it “dead ember” and the audience made that movie, called

Sholay, the biggest blockbuster in the history of Indian cinema. Conversely

movies that win truckloads of awards and critical acclaim do not even find a

theatrical release. Whether one likes it or not, businesses must respect consumer

judgment because the “customer is always right”.

It is very difficult to be on top of consumer choices and preferences because they

change. With times, their values, attitudes, beliefs undergo tremendous changes.

This happens due to change in the socio – economic as well as technological

environment. Needless to say, when it comes to cinema, the audience’s tastes and

preferences keep changing. For example, today, the concepts such as live-in

relationship and single parentage are acceptable while audience would have

abhorred them 20 years ago.

Hence, as a part of this project a field study was conducted in the state of

Karnataka to understand the consumer behavior with regard to movie watching.

The major objectives of the study were –


62

To understand the movie watching habits of Kannada speaking people

To understand the perceptions among Kannada speaking movie watchers on Kannada movies

To gauge the preference of Kannada speaking movie watchers movies in

terms of genres of movies

To assess the non- Kannada movie watching habits of Kannada speaking movie watchers

The data required for the study was collected through a questionnaire (Annexure

– 1) designed specifically for this purpose. The data was captured across five

locations in Karnataka namely, Bengaluru, Mysore, Hubballi, Kalburgi and

Mangalore. The questionnaires were administered at movie theatres in these

locations. The data was collected from multiplexes as well single screens that

were showing Kannada as well as non-Kannada movies. In total, 514 usable

questionnaires were collected. The split across locations is shown below –

Location Number of Respondents

Bengaluru 111

Mysore 111

Mangalore 91

Hubballi 100

Kalburgi 101

The data so collected, was tabulated for analysis. Two analysis were carried out

as follows –

1. The first study was done on people who could comfortably converse in

Kannada. There were 341 of them.

2. The second study was on comparing multiplex and single screen viewers.

There were 201 from multiplex and 313 from single screens.


63

In addition to the above, another study was carried out with a different set of

respondents who were post-graduate students. This study was to compare the

preference for mother tongue in life style habits such as movies, music and

reading among south Indian language speakers.

The following section presents analysis of the data which is mainly in terms of

descriptive statistics.

STUDY 1: KANNADA SPEAKING RESPONDENTS Out of the total 514 respondents, 370 indicated Kannada as their mother tongue.

However, only 303 of them were conversant with Kannada language. On the

other hand, among the people who were not Kannadigas 38 people were

conversant with Kannada language. Hence the total number of people who were

conversant with Kannada language were 341. This analysis pertains to these

respondents who were by and large, a multiplex going crowd. Out of the 341

respondents, about 153 (45%) people said they watched movies mainly in

multiplexes. Out of the remaining, 109 (32%) were single screen watchers. As

many as 79 (23%) people watched movies in both multiplexes and single

screens. It can be seen that close 70% of the movie watchers had multiplex

experience and the trend seems to be growing.

Out of the 341 respondents, 242 (71%) were men and the remaining 99 (29%)

were women. About 60% of them were graduates and 18% had post graduate

degrees. The age wise distribution is as given below


64

It can be seen that 82% are below the age of 40 and 42% are below the age of 25

years. It is important to capture the movie going tastes and preferences of this

group as it represents the population of India of which 60% is within the age

group of 35 years. Secondly movies re are mainly patronized by younger

generations and hence it is important to know them.

When it came to Income, 54% had an income less than Rs. 15000 per month.

This is understandable because the respondent set had a large number of

persons who were below the age of 20 years. This crowd is not likely to be

earning and probably depends on pocket money for their expenditure

The table below shows liking for movies among them and it can be seen that

there are significant number of movie buffs. A high 93% like watching movies

and within that, 40% people really like watching movies. About 70% of the

respondents watched at least 1 movie per month and about 15% watched 2 to 3

movies every month. If we take Karnataka population as 6 crores and consider

about 3 crore people to be under the age of 40, then at least 45 lakh people watch

2-3 movies every week. This works out to about 1 crore movie watchers per

week and 52 crore per year. At a ticket price of Rs. 50 the revenue they generate

is about Rs. 2600 crores. Going by the Kannada movie industry revenue of Rs.

Age No. %

16 – 25 year 145 42%

25 – 40 years 135 40%

40 – 60 years 54 16%

Above 60 years 7 2%

Total 341 100


65

350 crores, it can be said that the market share of Kannada movies is less than

15%.

Liking for movies No. %

Really like watching movies 137 40%

Like watching movies 180 53%

Neither like nor dislike watching movies 21 6%

Dislike watching movies 1 0%

Really dislike watching movies 2 1%

Total 341 100%

Frequency No. %

Once a year or less 28 8%

Several times a year 77 23%

Once a month 80 23%

2 to 3 times a month 90 26%

Once a week 50 15%

2 to 3 times a week 16 5%

Total 341 100%

People like to watch movies in company. About 65% of the respondents said that

they watch movies with friends. Given the lower average age of the respondents,

it is only natural that they watch movies with their friends. About 43% said they

watch movies with family members. As indicated earlier, movie watching is no

longer a functional process of content absorption but an overall experience

which people want to consume with their family and friends. Not many people

watched movies with their colleagues (only 2%) and about 11% of the people

were not very particular about the company. The sample also consisted of 11%

people who watched movies alone. The main reason for watching the movies is

for entertainment value (55% respondents) and Music Dance and Story (44%).

Reviews do not seem to matter much and start cast seems to be a stronger pull


66

than the name of the director. The table below gives the break up for the movie

watching criteria.

Criteria for Watching No. %

Entertainment Value 189 55%

Popularity based on reviews 98 29%

Starcast 133 39%

Music Dance and Story 149 44%

Director of Movie 97 28%

Time Pass 37 11% The most popular genre of movies seem to be action and comedy as indicated in

the table below. However, comedy tops the preference list with more than 89%

preference. It would be therefore, interesting to study the within the comedy

genre, the preference for comedies in the category of spoofs, satires, dark etc.

Action movies are liked by about 70% of the respondents and this can be

explained by the fact that most respondents are young in age and youngsters’

preference for action is well known. While the preference for romance and

family dramas is more or less the same, horror, mythology and crime thrillers do

not seem to be having much takers.

Movie Genre Really Dislike

Dislike Neither like or dislike

Like Really Like

Action 5% 10% 11% 47% 23%

Comedy 1% 1% 5% 41% 48%

Crime 13% 29% 16% 22% 12%

Family Drama 4% 11% 15% 40% 22%

Horror 17% 17% 9% 30% 17%

Romance 6% 12% 12% 42% 22%

Historical 9% 15% 16% 34% 19%

Mythological 12% 20% 17% 28% 15%

Suspence 2% 4% 5% 29% 15%

Science Fict 9% 12% 10% 40% 21%


67

The entire sample of 341 respondents was made up of persons conversant with

Kannada language and 303 out of this had Kannada as their mother tongue.

While it is heartening to learn that a majority of them frequently watched

Kannada movies (87%), it is may be noted that 61% frequently watched Hindi

movies, 44% watched English movies, 42 % watched Telugu and 27% frequently

watched Tamil movies. This clearly shows that the main competition to Kannada

movies is from these languages which are fighting for the share of Kannada

movie goers’ wallet. The table below gives the split of movie watching habits

across languages.

Language Never Watch

Rarely Watch

Frequently Watch

Always Watch

English 23% 33% 32% 12%

Hindi 13% 23% 43% 21%

Tamil 45% 28% 20% 7%

Telugu 34% 25% 30% 12%

Kannada 2% 11% 44% 43%

Malayalam 82% 16% 1% 1%

Tulu 94% 3% 2% 1%

Marathi 90% 6% 2% 1% The respondents were then asked to rank the movies by their preference for

languages and Kannada scored as the first preference with 55% of the

respondents giving it the first rank. Hindi came next with 33% preferences. The

next in the list were English, Telugu and Tamil in that order. As it can be seen

from the table below, many people did not rank some languages at all.


68

Language Rank Given

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NIL

Kannada 55% 17% 18% 5% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 5%

English 13% 23% 23% 10% 8% 1% 1% 0% 0% 21%

Hindi 18% 33% 20% 10% 5% 0% 0% 0% 1% 14%

Telugu 6% 13% 14% 27% 6% 1% 0% 1% 0% 31%

Tamil 5% 7% 7% 10% 31% 4% 1% 0% 0% 35%

Marathi 0% 1% 1% 2% 2% 25% 5% 0% 0% 64%

Malayalam 1% 1% 2% 2% 5% 28% 0% 0% 0% 62%

Others 0% 1% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 21% 0% 75%

1970s is considered as the golden period for Kannada cinema and this belief

seems to exist among the current generation as well. When asked about what do

they think of Kannada movies across the decades, they have responded very

positively towards movies made in 1970s and 1980s. As it can be seen, more

than 60% believe that movies of 70s and 80s were very good. But the perception

about current set of movies made in 2000s and 2010s is rather dis-appointing.

Just about 12% feel that the current movies are good. On the other hand, while

only 1% believes that movies of yester years were bad, about 30% feel that

present movies are bad to very bad.

Decade Very Good

Good Average Bad Very Bad

1970s 66% 25% 8% 1% 0%

1980s 63% 31% 6% 1% 0%

1990s 37% 45% 17% 1% 0%

2000s 12% 36% 42% 9% 1%

2010s 11% 22% 37% 22% 8%

It would be interesting to learn whether their response is based on actual

experience or they perceive it this way. We have no data on whether this

generation has watched the movies of 70s and 80s (On TV , You tube etc) and feel

they are better in comparison to the current crop of movies. It is also possible


69

that they have been told that movies were better in 70s and 80s and hence they

believe so. Anyway this generation seems to have clearly identified certain

problems with Kannada movies as shown in the table below.

Problem with Kannada movies No. %

No good story 232 68%

No quality music 87 26%

No good actors 82 24%

No beautiful locations and settings 38 11%

Poor starcast 69 20%

Expensive ticket prices at multiplexes 83 24%

Not released frequently at multiplexes 121 35%

Very less marketing activities before release 71 21%

No Originality 175 51%

Far from Kannada culture 90 26%

Not as impressive as other language movies 61 18%

Not lavish and posh 58 17%

An overwhelming majority felt that Kannada movies lack good story (68%) and

originality (51%). This could be on account of a large number of remake movies

being made in Kannada. A significant number of people have expressed concern

over Kannada movies not being screened much in multiplexes and also the high

ticket prices at multiplexes. About 26% have said that Kannada movies are not

reflecting Kannada culture, which again is linked to borrowing ideas from other

languages and the culture of remake in Kannada cinema. Beautiful locations,

settings and lavishness does not seem to be a major concern for them.

Hence, they expect Kannada movies to be primarily have originality (49%) and

avoid remakes. As shown in the table below, originality tops the list of their

expectations and they have ranked remaking of movies into Kannada very low.

Other than originality, they expect good star cast and music.


70

Aspect Rank Given

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Starcast 16% 29% 21% 8% 10% 5% 3% 4% 2% 3%

Music etc 19% 23% 18% 15% 7% 5% 5% 1% 3% 4%

Originality 49% 18% 13% 8% 3% 2% 2% 1% 1% 2%

Price 3% 6% 5% 13% 12% 9% 12% 17% 14% 8%

Multiplex 2% 8% 11% 17% 14% 11% 10% 10% 13% 4%

Remakes 1% 4% 7% 7% 4% 10% 8% 12% 13% 35%

Marketing 4% 9% 10% 11% 15% 14% 10% 9% 12% 6%

Culture 11% 15% 11% 11% 15% 11% 11% 9% 4% 2%

Novels 7% 7% 15% 9% 9% 10% 14% 10% 13% 7% Rich Production 9% 13% 11% 14% 13% 10% 9% 7% 6% 10%

Finally the respondents were asked what role should the Government play to

ensure better viewership of Kannada movies. An overwhelming 73% have said

that Government should provide more facilities to the industry to make quality

movies. A significant number (43%) feel that government should do something

about ticket prices in multiplexes and ensure more screening of Kannada movies

in multiplexes.


71

STUDY 2: SINGLE SCREENS VS MULTIPLEXES The survey was conducted to elicit views from respondents regarding movie

watching habits from various cities in Karnataka viz. Bengaluru, Mangaluru,

Mysuru, Hubballi, and Kalburgi. We had 514 respondents taking the survey and

responses were elicited by way of administering a structured questionnaire

through personal interview method. The questionnaires were administered to

respondents in single screens as well as multiplexes and this analysis pertains to

the same.

Out of the total 514 respondents, 354 (69%) were men and the remaining 160

(31%) were women. About 313 (60%) consisting of both men and women were

interviewed in single screens while the remaining 201 (40%) were interviewed

in multiplexes. About 64% of them were graduates and 15% had post graduate

degrees. The age wise distribution is given below

Age No. %

16-25 years 221 43%

25-40 years 208 40%

40-60 years 76 15%

Above 60 years 9 2%

Total 541 100

It can be seen that 83% are below the age of 40 years and 43% are below the age

of 25 years. It well represents the population of India of which 60% is within the

age group of 35 years and hence makes great sense to capture the movie going


72

tastes and preferences of this group. Secondly it is our general observation that

movies are mainly patronized by younger generations and hence important to

know them.

In terms of the parameter of ‘income’, 49% of the respondents had an income

less than Rs.15000 per month. This is understandable as the respondent set had

a large number of people below the age of 20 years. This group is unlikely to be

earning and probably depends mainly on money received from their family

members for expenditure.

The table below shows details of mother tongue of all the respondents who were

interviewed for the study and it can be seen that there are a significant number

of respondents (370 nos, 72%) with Kannada as their mother tongue and 64% of

them are well conversant with Kannada language.

Language Mother Tongue (Nos/%) Most Conversant (Nos/%)

Gujarati 1 (0%) 0 (0%)

Hindi 13 (3%) 35 (7%)

Kannada 370 (72%) 329 (64%)

Konkani 30 (6%) 13 (3%)

Malayalam 6 (1%) 4 (1%)

Marathi 12 (2%) 3 (1%)

Tamil 23 (4%) 13 (3%)

Telugu 24 (5%) 12 (2%)

Tulu 23 (4%) 23 (4%)

Urdu 7 (1%) 1 (0%)

English 2 (0%) 40 (8%)

Others 3 (1%) 19 (4%)

Multiple - 22 (4%)

Total 514 514


73

It is expected that this group of respondents who have Kannada as their mother

tongue as well as conversant with the language offer enough insights on various

aspects pertaining to Kannada films. It is also expected that the other

respondents who have mother tongue other than Kannada give in views related

to their movie watching habits and preferences.

On the aspect of the language of the movie watched, Kannada language tops the

list with 75% of respondents watching Kannada movies frequently and always in

single screens and 70% in multiplexes. This is followed by Hindi and English

language movies. It is interesting to note here that more or less an equal

proportion of respondents have been watching Kannada movies both in single

screens and in multiplexes too. In other words, watching Kannada movies is no

more confined to single screens and people do prefer to enjoy it in multiplexes

too. It is also evident that around 90% of the respondents opined that they love

watching movies irrespective of the location.

Frequency of movie

watching

No. %

Once a year or less 56 11%

Several times a year 119 23%

Once a month 118 23%

2-3 times a month 129 25%

Once a week 67 13%

2-3 times a week 25 5%

Total 514 100


74

129 respondents (25%) watch movies two to three times in a month, be it in a

multiplex or in single screens, while 118 respondents (23%) watch movies at

least once a month in either formats. 92 respondents (18%) are movie buffs with

their frequency of watching movies as high as 2-3 times a week or at least once a

week. Only 56 respondents (11%) said that they watch movies rarely to the

extent of once a year or less. 232 respondents (45%) have been watching movies

predominantly in multiplexes, 171 respondents (33%) have been watching

movies in single screens, while 108 respondents (21%) have been watching

movies in both locations. There is a growing preference for watching movies in

multiplexes from the available options based on the data collected.

The most popular genre of movies seem to be action and comedy, both amongst

respondents who watch movies in single screens and multiplexes as indicated in

the table below. However, comedy tops the preference list with 90% preference

amongst respondents watching movies in single screens and 88% amongst

respondents from multiplexes. It would be better to investigate further, the

preferences within the comedy genre in the category of spoofs, satires, dark etc.

Action movies are liked by about 66% of the respondents watching movies in

single screens and 78% of respondents from Multiplexes and this can be

explained by the fact that most respondents are young in age and youngsters’

preference for action is well known. Historical, Mythological and crime thrillers

do not have much takers.


75

Movie Genre

Like (%)

Single

Screen

Respondents

Multiplex

Respondents

Action 66 78

Comedy 90 88

Crime 36 53

Family Drama 63 52

Horror 48 27

Romance 62 29

Historical 26 32

Mythological 27 25

Suspense 58 58

Science Fiction 28 35

Respondents were asked to rank movies by their preference for languages and

Kannada scored as the first preference both amongst respondents from single

screens (50%) as well as from multiplexes (45%) by giving it first rank. Hindi

came next amongst respondents from single screens with 23% preferences,

while English was ranked two by respondents from multiplexes (27%). The next

in list was English ranked three by respondents from single screen and Hindi

ranked three by respondents from multiplexes.

People like to watch movies in company. About 60% of the respondents

interviewed in single screens said that they watch movies with friends, while it

was 72% for respondents from multiplexes. Lower average age of the

respondents can be one reason for watching movies with their friends. About


76

43% of respondents from single screens said they watch movies with family

members, while it was 38% for respondents from multiplexes. Movie watching is

seen as an overall experience, which people want to have with their family and

friends. Not many people watched movies with their colleagues (only 4% for

respondents from single screens and only 1% for respondents from multiplexes)

and about 10% of respondents from both single screens and multiplexes were

not very particular about the company aspects. The sample also consisted of 9%

of respondents from single screens and 14% of respondents from multiplexes

who watched movies alone.

The main reason for watching the movies is for entertainment value (54%

respondents from both single screens and multiplexes) and Music Dance and

Story (47%). Reviews do not seem to matter much and start cast seems to be a

stronger pull than the name of the director. The table below gives the break up

for the movie watching criteria that includes preferences of respondents, both

from single screens and multiplexes.

Criteria for Watching No. %

Entertainment Value 278 54%

Popularity based on reviews 160 31%

Starcast 200 39%

Music Dance and Story 243 47%

Director of Movie 126 25%

Time Pass 73 14%


77

1970s is considered as the golden period for Kannada cinema and this belief

seems to exist among the current generation as well. When asked about what

they think of Kannada movies across the decades, they have responded very

positively towards movies made in 1970s and 1980s. As it can be seen, more

than 70% of respondents from both single screens and multiplexes believe that

movies of 70s and 80s were very good. But the perception about current set of

movies made in 2010s is rather dis-appointing. Just about 12% feel that the

current movies are good. On the other hand, while only 2% believe that movies

of yester years were bad, about 25-30% feel that present movies are bad to very

bad.

Decade

Very good & Good category Bad & Very Bad category

Single

Screen

Respondents

Multiplex

Respondents

Single

Screen

Respondents

Multiplex

Respondents

1970s 71% 66% 0% 1%

1980s 74% 75% 0% 1%

1990s 66% 66% 2% 2%

2000s 43% 42% 13% 6%

2010s 28% 30% 31% 22%

It would be interesting to find out whether the above response is based on actual

experience or their perception based on various sources. We have no data on

whether this generation has watched the movies of 70s and 80s (On TV, You tube

etc.) and feel they are better in comparison to the current crop of movies. It is

also possible that they have been told that movies were better in 70s and 80s


78

and hence they believe so. Nevertheless this generation has gone further and

clearly identified certain problems associated with Kannada movies as shown in

the table below.

Problem with Kannada

movies

Single Screen

Respondents

Multiplex

Respondents

No. % No. %

No good story 202 65% 138 69%

No quality music 90 29% 51 25%

No good actors 88 28% 57 28%

No beautiful locations and

settings 43 14%

22

11%

Poor Star Cast 72 23% 50 25%

Expensive ticket prices at

multiplexes 68 22%

37

18%

Not released frequently at

multiplexes 102 33%

74

37%

Very less marketing

activities before release 75 24%

48

24%

No Originality 151 48% 121 60%

Far from Kannada culture 87 28% 48 24%

Not as impressive as other

language movies 65 21%

41

20%

Not lavish and posh 57 18% 55 27%

An overwhelming majority of respondents from both single screens (65%) and

multiplexes (69%) felt that Kannada movies lack good story and originality (48%

for respondents from single screens and 60% for respondents from multiplexes).

This could be on account of a large number of remake movies being made in


79

Kannada. A significant number of people have expressed concern over Kannada

movies not being screened much in multiplexes and also the high ticket prices at

multiplexes. More than 25% of respondents from both single screens and

multiplexes have said that Kannada movies do not reflect Kannada culture which

again is linked to borrowing ideas from other languages and the culture of

remake in Kannada cinema. Beautiful locations, settings and lavishness does not

seem to be a major concern for them.

Respondents expect Kannada movies to primarily have originality (38% from

respondents from single screens and 43% of respondents from multiplexes) and

avoid remakes. Originality tops the list of their expectations with remake of

movies into Kannada ranked the lowest. Other than originality, good star cast

and music score high on ranking by respondents across single screens and

multiplexes.

Finally the respondents were asked what role the Government should play to

ensure better viewership of Kannada movies. An overwhelming 78% of

respondents from multiplexes and 68% of respondents from single screens have

opined that the Government should provide more facilities to the industry to

make quality movies. More than 30% of respondents both from single screens

and multiplexes feel that the Government should act on pricing of tickets in

multiplexes and ensure more screening of Kannada movies in multiplexes.


80

STUDY 3: MOTHER TONGUE AFFINITY IN MOVIES – A COMPARITIVE STUDY

It is often said that Kannada speaking people are not very proud of their mother

tongue as compared to Malayali, Tamil and Telugu people. In this regard, an

exploratory study was undertaken among youngsters to understand how much

attached are they to their mother tongues in their life styles.

For this study the sample chosen was post-graduate students as our previous

study had shown that younger generation is the major target segment for

movies. Students were chosen from a reputed b-school in Manipal, Karnataka.

The Institute attracts students from all over India, with students belonging to

more than 25 states studying there.

A questionnaire was prepared to assess their life style habits and this

questionnaire was administered through internet on google docs. (See Annexure

– 2 for the questionnaire). A total of 552 students took the survey out of which

410 (74%) were male students and the remaining 142 (26%) were female

students. About 440 (80%) of them were below the age of 25 years. Most of them

came from well to do families as 39% had a monthly family income of Rs. 50000

– Rs. 1 lakh and 32% had incomes above Rs. 1 lakh per month.

Coming to their hobbies, 98.2 % listened to music and 98.6 watched movies in

theatres. About 87% watched television but among this, a large portion (above

50%) watched TV for less than 30 minutes in a day. About 43% watched TV for

30 minutes to 2 hours every day. Coming to movies, 363 (65%) watched movies


81

at least once in a month. About 26% watched movies 2-3 times in a month and

7% watched movies every week.

The students spoke different languages. Many were not conversant with their

mother tongues but spoke other languages well. Only 3 persons claimed English

to be their mother tongues but an overwhelming 80% claimed they were

conversant with this language. Hindi was the mother tongue for a large number

of people, 184 out of 552 to be precise, which makes it 33%. Other languages

indicated as mother tongue were, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya, Guajarati, Kannada,

Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Konkani and Coorgi.

The table below gives the data for the four South Indian languages plus Hindi and

English.

Language Mother Tongue

Comfort in conversing

Movies Music Reading

Most of the

times

Some times

Always Most of

the times

Always Most of

the times

English 3 440 391 146 161 168 502 47

Hindi 184 393 364 138 300 169 27 30

Kannada 40 50 13 15 14 10 7 3

Tamil 29 49 39 46 43 26 4 3

Malayalam 62 46 41 26 21 26 7 13

Telugu 49 53 46 22 27 30 6 10

It can be seen that most of the people are conversant in English and Hindi. The

comfort with English is mainly due to the fact that almost all the respondents had

English as the medium of instruction in their college. The number of people who

are familiar with Hindi is more than the number of people who have Hindi as

their mother tongue. This is on account of Hindi being a national language and


82

people from many states in India are familiar with Hindi even though it is not the

language widely spoken in the state.

Among the 552 respondents in this study, close to 10% each were conversant

with south Indian languages – Tamil (49 people), Telugu (53 people), Kannada

(50 people) and Malayalam (46 people). From the table above it can be inferred

that the mother tongue connect in life style is low in Kannada in comparison to

the other three south Indian languages. Though the number of respondents in

each category is not so as to make the results statistically significant, they do

indicate some trend.

Kannada people or the people who are familiar with Kannada language do not

seem to consider Kannada when it comes to lifestyle habits such as watching

movies, listening to music or reading. The following tables individually look at

these habits among people, who are familiar with south Indian languages and it

can be seen that but, for reading Kannada, people lag behind mother tongue

connection in movies and music.



Watching Movies

Most of the Times Sometimes

No. % No. %

Kannada 40 50 13 26% 15 30%

Tamil 29 49 39 80% 46 94%

Malayalam 62 46 41 89% 26 57%

Telugu 49 53 46 87% 22 42%


83



Listening to Music

Always Most of the Times

No. % No. %

Kannada 40 50 14 28% 10 20%

Tamil 29 49 43 88% 26 53%

Malayalam 62 46 21 46% 26 57%

Telugu 49 53 27 51% 30 57%



Reading

Always Most of the Times

No. % No. %

Kannada 40 50 7 14% 3 6%

Tamil 29 49 4 8% 3 6%

Malayalam 62 46 7 15% 13 28%

Telugu 49 53 6 11% 10 19%

While watching movies most of the times in respective languages of familiarity

for Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam was more than 80% , it was disappointingly

low for Kannada at 26%. Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam people who did not watch

movies in their respective languages most of the times, but watched sometimes

was also high as compared to Kannada which stood at 30% as compared Tamil

and Malayalam which was more than 50%.

The numbers also indicate that Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies are

watched by people who are not even comfortable with that language. For

example while only 49 people were conversant with Tamil, as many as 87 people

had the habit of watching Tamil movies.


84

Major Findings of the Study

Following are the major findings from the study presented in points

1. Movies seem to attract younger crowd than the aged group. About 43% of

the movie watchers fall in the age group of 16 – 25 years. And another

40% is between the age of 25 – 40 years.

2. More and more people are shifting to multiplexes for watching movies.

3. A majority of the movie watching population of Karnataka seems to like

watching movies and there is no difference about this between single

screen viewers and multiplex viewers. About 90% of the viewers liked or

really liked watching movies.

4. Two thirds of movie watchers watch movies at least once in a month. This

shows that movie watching is a regular activity in their life style.

5. Among the genres, action and comedy are most preferred by the audience

followed by family drama and suspense. Single screen audience prefers

romance much more than multiplex going crowd. Kannada audience also

like science fiction.

6. Whether it is multiplex or single screen, people like watching movies in

company and the most preferred company is friends followed by family

members.


85

7. Kannada film watchers have a perception that the Kannada movies made

in 1970s and 80s were much better in quality than movies being made

currently.

8. The major problem with Kannada movies as per the audience is lack of

originality and lack of good story. This opinion, is shared alike by both

single screen and multiplex audience.

9. The Kannada cinema watchers are concerned about Kannada movies not

getting enough screen time in multiplexes.

10. Kannada cinema watchers wish that the Government provided more

facilities to the industry to produce quality films

11. Kannada speaking people watch less Kannada movies compared to Tamil,

Telugu and Malayalam people watching movies in their respective

languages.

Part 5: Recommendations

86

PART 5

RECOMMENDATIONS

It is often said, “There is no business like show business”. It has glamour, money,

excitement, creativity and what not. However, this business is also one of the

most risky businesses. Each movie released is a brand new product and the rate

of introduction of new products (a new movie) is very high in this industry as

compared to other industries. When we consider each new movie as a new

product, Indian cinema is the only industry that introduces more than 1000 new

products in a year. These movies vie with each other for the attention of viewers

who accept or reject the movies in one week’s time.

New products and services in other industries, once introduced, can be improved

based on customer feedback. This is not possible in show business, as there is no

recourse if the audience does not like a movie. While it has always been the case,

the theatrical life cycle of a movie has become extremely short in the present

times. Theoretically, any product or service takes time initially to be accepted by

the market, after which, the market starts growing in terms of revenue. It then

reaches the maturity stage where the revenues plateau and then it starts

declining. During the introduction stage, only few innovators adopt the product

(about 3.5%) and then come the early adopters (about 16.5%). The remaining

80% of the business is supposed to come at a later stage by the groups known as

early majority, late majority and laggards1. This entire process takes some time.

1 Everett Rogers “Diffusion of Innovation” , 1963


87

For certain products, it could be as high as two to three decades, while for

fashion products it could be just a matter of months.

However, in the business of movies, the fate of the movie is decided in a matter

of one week. For example, 36 movies released from January to August 2015,

collected Rs.1750 crores at the box office and out of this, Rs.1157 (66%) was

collected in the first week of their release. For about 18 movies out of the 36, the

first week collection was more than 85% of the total collection and for 6 movies

the entire 100% collection happened in the first week and there was no business

after that2 period. This demonstrates that movies have a very short time window

to recover their costs and make profits at the theatres.

The elements that determine the success of movies has been a matter of interest

to the industry and academia as well, Rocco et al3, based on their study, cite star

artistes, famous directors, impact of critics, financing strategies as predictors of

success. In the same study, it was found that distribution strategies, newspaper

rankings, state support, cast and the director had significant association with

higher box office revenues. In another study4 that investigates box office slump

in the United States in 2005, the reasons for the slump are stated as ticket prices,

rise of home market (DVD), video on demand, theatre ambience, timing of

release and uninspiring movies.

2 from the website, indicine.com accessed on 23rd August 2015 3 “Distribution strategy and movie performance : An empirical note” by Rocco Ciciretti, Iftekhar Hassan and Maya Waisman, Eurasian Economic Review, 5, 2015, pp 179-187 4 “The movie industry: Managing the box office slump” by Dr. N Delener, Proceedings of the North-East Business & Economic Association, October 2007


88

While these are applicable to all movies in general, Kannada cinema today is

more threatened by the factors mentioned above, as seen in the previous section,

the issues plaguing the industry go beyond what is stated above. There is an

immediate need for proactive action to ensure the survival and growth of

Kannada movies. The problems affecting Kannada movies are two dimensional.

There are issues on quality, marketing of movies, customer perception etc which

are related to the industry and the industry needs to work on these. However,

any action taken towards this will have impact on the long term. Unfortunately,

Kannada movies do not have a long time horizon to recover and grow given the

rate at which non-Kannada movies are penetrating Karnataka market. Hence,

Kannada movies desperately need quick short-term measures to avert this

threat and this is where the Government can act as an enabler. The following

section discusses the role of industry and the Government towards

strengthening the Kannada cinema.

The fundamental question is what role the Government should play in the

promotion of movies given that there are other priorities and pressing needs for

the state. There seems to be a strong case for the Government to play an active

role in the promotion of the movies. First of all, research studies have shown that

state support can boost the movie industry. Secondly, movies are linked to the

art and culture of the land. Movies are one arena where a variety of creative

people such as actors, singers, dancers, writers and directors converge, and

showcase their talents. It is also an industry that supports thousands of families

of technicians and other staff who depend on movies for their livelihood. Thirdly,

on the long run, if nurtured well, movies are a tremendous source of revenue for


89

the Government in the form of taxes. This aspect is important as this is perhaps

the most ethical source of taxes as compared to other mass consumed items such

as alcohol and tobacco. Fourthly, movies are an economical source of

entertainment for the poor and it is important that they are not deprived of it.

Lastly, the current study has shown that people expect the Government to create

an ideal climate for movie making by providing adequate support.

The Government of Karnataka has indeed been very supportive of the Kannada

movie industry. It was the first one to start the practice of providing subsidy to

Kannada movies to the tune of Rs. 50000 per movie in 1966. At present, the

subsidy amount is Rs. 10 lakhs per movie and it is available to 100 Kannada and

other language movies such as Tulu, Konkani, Kodava, Beary and Banjara. Out of

the 100 subsidies available, 92 movies are paid Rs. 10 lakhs each and Rs. 25

lakhs each is earmarked for 4 children movies and 4 movies on Kannada tourism,

heritage and national integration. Five movies, based on novels, each get Rs.5

lakhs additional subsidy. Remake movies do not get the 100 tax-free benefit that

the original Kannada movies get. To avail this, the re-recording, recording,

dubbing and 50% shooting has to be done in Karnataka. If a movie gets selected

for exhibition in an International festival, it gets Rs.19.75 lakh.

There is also no sales tax on Kannada movies while non-Kannada movies pay a

tax of 30%5. This tax holiday is aimed primarily at promoting Kannada movie

viewership amidst competition from other language movies.

5 This is a normal practice in most of the states. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have 0% tax on movies made in the respective languages.


90

In addition to this, the Government has never intervened in the practices

adopted by the movie industry such as – no dubbing and no release of other

language movies for 7 weeks in Karnataka6 even though they have no legal

sanctity and are against the norms set by CCI7, the Karnataka Government has

stood by the industry.

However, there is a need for the Government to act in certain areas that are

threatening the very existence of Kannada movies. Following are the

recommended actions that the Government may wish to take.

1. Eliminating Bureaucratic Hurdles

a) One of the major problems that the movie makers in Karnataka face is the

hurdles that they need to go through toward securing permissions to

shoot outdoors. Some producers have expressed anguish over the fact

that they need to take permissions from multiple departments to shoot

movies in locations. The Government stand on permitting outdoor

shooting should be less bureaucratic because out-door locations shown in

movies promotes tourism.

b) The Government gives Rs.10 lakhs subsidy per movie for Kannada

movies. There is a committee set up by the Government to look into the

quality of movies and certify them for subsidy. Apparently this process

6 This practice existed earlier. Non – Kannada movies were allowed to release in Karnataka only 7 weeks after their home release. 7 Competition Commission of India


91

takes a long time and the producers have to wait inordinately for subsidy.

Some producers have even questioned the sanctity of this committee. The

Government must take steps to smoothen out the process.

c) The Government of Karnataka recognizes good work in cinema and gives

annual awards in various categories. A committee, headed by a panel of

Judges, decides the awards. The jury usually consists of eminent

personalities from the film field. The awards intend to promote films with

artistic values and encourage artists, technicians and producers. The

awards are declared by the Minister for Cultural Affairs and are presented

by the Chief Minister. The awards have a cash component. Though the

amount may be modest, the awards are sought after and cherished as

they stand testimony to the good work done by the artistes and

technicians. However, the entire process is always fraught with

controversies. There are complaints about selection of the jury members

as well as the winners. Recently, some awards have been withdrawn,

which has happened for the first time in the history of Kannada cinema.

The net result is that the credibility of the awards is lost and this has hurt

the image of the industry as well as the Government. Given this, it is

recommended that the Government dissociate itself from the process of

selection of the jury. The process can be given to agencies that are

associated with movies on a continuous basis and are perceived as

credible and fair.


92

2. Generating Additional Revenue through Surcharge

At present the Government levies a Re.1 per ticket surcharge on non-Kannada

movies in Karnataka and it is not known whether or not this amount is spent

towards development of cinema in Karnataka. Even if it is made available for

such purposes, the amount is too small to make any significant impact. The

neighboring state of Kerala charges Rs. 3 per ticket and this amount is spent

specifically on development of movies and funding activities related to cinema. A

well-known Kannada producer points to more than dozen theatres built in

Kerala using this money. Karnataka can also think of levying a higher surcharge

per ticket, even to the tune of Rs. 5 – Rs. 7 with a clear mandate of spending this

money exclusively on Kannada cinema. Following are the ways in which the

money can be put to use.

a) Increase subsidy: Kannada movies get a subsidy of Rs.10 lakhs per

movie. This amount, though significant, is not motivating enough, given

that the cost of movie making has gone up manifolds. An increase in

subsidy will definitely reduce the risk perception among makers and

many new moviemakers with fresh ideas will enter the fray. Secondly,

many award-winning movies do not get theatrical release and depend on

subsidies. Hence they are constrained by the subsidy amount even at the

budgeting stage of the movie. This makes them to compromise on several

aspects. The neighboring state of Maharashtra gives Rs.40 lakhs per

movie and Uttar Pradesh gives up to Rs. 2 crore for movies produced in


93

the state. Karnataka should also act along these lines and think at least of

fixing the subsidy as a percentage of the average cost of movie making.

b) Additional Funding for Film Festivals: The International Film Festival

hosted in Karnataka is grossly underfunded with a budget allocation of

Rs. 2 Crores while the neighboring states of Kerala and Goa provide

anywhere between Rs. 7.5 to Rs. 10 crores. The film festival in Karnataka

therefore, is not able to make an impact due to lack of adequate resources.

The money raised through surcharge can also be utilized for this.

c) Additional Incentive for Movies based on Novels: At present, five

movies based on novels each get Rs.5 lakhs additional subsidy. Keeping in

mind the consumer preference for good stories and the declining trend of

making novel based movies, the Government could think of raising this

amount so as to be a motivator for making movies based on Kannada

stories and novels

d) Revival of KFDC: The Karnataka Film Industries Development

Corporation Ltd (KFDC), which operated in the Kanteerava Studios

premises, has not been active since last 7-8 years. It was established with

an objective of development of movie industry in Karnataka and did

finance some movies earlier. It is recommended here that KFDC should be

revived with the goal of planning, promoting and organizing an integrated

and efficient development of Kannada film industry and nurture

excellence in Kannada cinema. The funds required for this can come from

the proposed surcharge. KFDC can finance movies that are good in


94

concept but are finding it difficult to raise money through traditional

channels.

e) Finance Exhibition of Kannada movies outside Karnataka: While

there is a significant market for non-Kannada movies in Karnataka,

Kannada movies hardly have any takers outside Karnataka. There is a

significant Kannada population outside Karnataka especially in places

such as Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Chennai and Dubai. It has become rather

difficult for Kannada moviemakers to find theatres outside Karnataka due

to high theatre rentals. If the Government can take a share of this financial

burden, then it would be possible for Kannada movies to reach out. This

facility can be made available only to original Kannada movies and not

remakes.

3. Building Small Theatres

Karnataka is facing shortage of theatres and in this regard the Government

proposes help in building 300 small theatres at a cost of Rs.25 lakhs each. This is

a welcome initiative. If all goes well, about 500 Janatha cinema halls will be

constructed for the screening of Kannada films. One needs Rs25 lakh (excluding

the cost of land) to construct a 300-seat theatre at a taluk or district headquarter.

The movie industry proposes that the Government provide Rs15 lakh as a loan

and Rs10 lakh as subsidy and to collect rent for the land allotted for the

construction of a cinema theatre8. However, it must be ensured that these

theatres exhibit Kannada movies only. In addition, the Government should also

8 “Sandalwood looking forward to more theatres”, DNA, Feb 16, 2014


95

allow existing theatres with large capacities to be converted to multiple theatres

of smaller capacities.

4. Policy on Multiplexes Karnataka definitely needs a policy on Multiplexes. The consumer study has

shown that Kannada movie watching audience finds that Kannada movies are

not screened enough in multiplexes or when screened, they are shown at non-

prime times. The audience also feels that the admission rates at multiplexes are

rather high. To the audience, the cost of watching movies in multiplexes includes

not only ticket price but also the cost of snacks and drinks. While the multiplexes

peg their prices based on their cost structure, it also important to ensure that

they support the development of movies made locally. There are instances

where State Governments have intervened to ensure local movies are screened

by multiplexes. In Maharashtra, there is legislation that ensures screening of

Marathi movies at prime times in multiplexes. In Tamil Nadu, the rate admission

for the first two rows in all multiplexes is pegged at Rs.20 per seat. The study has

shown that Kannada audience likes to watch movies in multiplexes ( given the

poor state of single screen theatres) and hence it is time for the Government to

evolve a policy on multiplex screening norms for Kannada movies and admission

rates.

5. Establishment of Film Institutions

It is an age-old concern being expressed by most of the movie makers that

Karnataka lacks basic movie making infrastructure. This concern appears more

glaring when one looks at the movie making infrastructure development in the


96

last two decades in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra. While Tamil Nadu has

traditionally been a center for making movies in south, Andhra has now emerged

as the favorite destination with Ramoji Rao film city. In Kerala, the Government

has allotted 100 acres in Trivandrum for establishing film institutions. Karnataka

also needs to establish a good film city to ensure local technicians from

Karnataka earn revenues from technical services. Moreover, it will bring down

the cost of movie making significantly. It is recommended that the film city is

established in Mysuru as it is much cheaper in terms of stay and travel. Moreover

the time to commute in Mysuru is also less as compared to Bangaluru. Mysuru

also has more than 50 beautiful locations near by. The only shortcoming is the

lack of a functional airport. If the Government can develop the airport and

encourage entrepreneurs through easy allotment of land, power and other

infrastructure, Karnataka can also have a good film city.

In addition to this, Karnataka needs a good film training institute along the lines

of FTII. If the Government can take a proactive initiative on this, there will be no

dearth of entrepreneurs in this segment as well.

6. Establish Ministry for Cinematography Karnataka makes about 125 films per year and is next only to Hindi, Tamil,

Telugu and Malayalam cinema in its size. The total annual investment is about

Rs. 500 – 600 crores and the revenue is Rs. 275 – Rs. 300 crores.9. Given its size

and the quantum of financial risk involved, it is absolutely necessary that there

are governance structures and processes dedicated to this industry. However, at

9 Movie industry is inherently risky. This phenomena of revenues being less than the cost is seen across all movie industries.


97

present, movies come under the ambit of Information & Broadcasting ministry,

which looks after several issues and hence is loaded with work. The neighboring

states seem to have realized the importance of a focused approach towards

movies and hence have a dedicated minister for movies. In Andhra Pradesh, it is

the chief minister Shri Chandrababu Naidu, who holds this portfolio, while in

Telangana, Shri T S Yadav is Minister of Cinematography. In Kerala, Shri. T

Radhakrishnan is the Minister of Cinema. A ministry dedicated to cinema will be

a platform dedicated for policy making on cinema, and an institution that

moviemakers can approach with their problems. Karnataka should have a

dedicated minister for Cinema.

7. Stopping Malpractices The 100% tax free facility being given to Kannada movies is apparently being

exploited by some exhibitors. Non-Kannada movies are being shown under the

name of Kannada movies where viewers are charged the full amount but the tax

is not paid to the Government. Allowing such practices to continue will hamper

Kannada movies as there is more incentive in exhibiting non-Kannada movies.

The Government must take cognizance of this issue and take corrective

measures. Use of appropriate technology such as compulsory e-ticketing could

eliminate such malpractices.

8. Building a Sustainable Investor Class While Bollywood boasts of movie making houses such as Yashraj films, Red

Chillies and Eros, Andhra has Padmalaya movies and Tamil Nadu has GV Films

Sun TV Network. These are to name just a few. Many movie and TV companies

have gone public and their shares are traded on the stock market. Moreover,


98

these industries are attracting investors in the form of foreign studios. This gives

tremendous credibility to the Industry and finding investors is not a major issue.

Kannada cinema does not have such powerhouse investors and hence the

industry depends on high interest finances from private investors.

It is not that there is no promise in Kannada movies as successful Kannada

movies can yield up to 300 – 400% profit. The main issue seems to be Kannada

movies do not seem to be on top of their minds when it comes to profitable

investment. It here that the Industry and Government need to make a difference

to the potential investors. One way of attracting investors could be arranging

meetings with industry minister, movie producers and investors. Investors can

also be invited to set up labs, studios and film related institutions in the state

with incentives.

9. Perception Management There seems to be a general perception that Kannada movies are not good and

everything is not all right with Kannada movies. The consumer study indicates

that audience perceives the Kannada movies of 70s and 80s to be much better

than the movies being made at present. This perception could be based not by

watching and comparing today’s movies with that of yesteryears but by

interpreting what they hear and see around them. We are well over a decade into

the new millennium but the stories that float around still belong to 70s and 80s.

Be it newspapers, television or social media, when ever there is talk of national

awards, originality, novel based movies and experimentation, Kannada cinema


99

talks only about past glory. This gives an impression that there has been nothing

good after 1980s.

Secondly, Kannada movies and stars are not known much outside Karnataka like

Tamil/Telugu movies and stars. Hence, there is some defensiveness about

Kannada movies and the learned people of Karnataka carry some inferiority

complex when it comes to movies. This automatically creates negativity towards

Kannada movies.

Hence, there is a need to alter the perception about Kannada movies among

Kannada people so that they are more positive and confident about Kannada

cinema. This can be done by a sustained communication campaign where every

member of the industry takes responsibility. First of all, there should be more

articles in media about good things about Kannada cinema. Many a times, the

critics seem to be harsh on Kannada movies. It is unfair to review a Kannada

movie with the standards of Bollywood movies as a benchmark. Industry should

ensure the movies get fair review and the same should be used for marketing.

Another way of engaging with the younger audience much earlier is by

sponsoring events in schools and colleges. Movie houses can promote their

movies and Kannada cinema through sponsorships.

10. Niche Identification & Creation In a very competitive market place, it is necessary for products and services to be

distinctly different from competing products and this applies to movies as well.


100

The need to be different than competition is much more for Kannada movies as

compared to its counterparts from south as Kannada audience are exposed to

other language movies more than the audience from neighboring states.

Therefore, the success of Kannada movies depends on how different they are

from the movies made in other language. It is a fact that Kannada movies,

because of the limited markets, cannot match Hindi, Telugu and Tamil movies in

terms of their grandeur and scale. Hence, trying to be like them is a futile

exercise and Kannada movies will ever be regarded as poor imitations of Hindi

and other South Indian language movies. By continuously patterning Kannada

movies along the lines of non-Kannada movies, the industry also contributes

towards altering the local tastes and preferences. Tamil and Telugu movies are

typically a shade louder as the target audience likes them that way. Presuming

the same is preferred in Karnataka and subjecting the Kannada audience to it

amounts to disrespecting the tastes of local populace.

In the 60s and 70s, Malayalam and Kannada movies were in a similar situation –

they made the same number of movies and were not considered as important as

Tamil and Telugu movies. Malayam movie industry, by catering to local taste, has

carved a niche and respect for itself in the entire Indian movie Industry. They

have understood their audience, their intellect and their preferences and made

movies accordingly. Once the industry was known as something that delivers

novelty and quality, the audience began expecting something fresh all the time.

This put the industry in the driving seat and they could drive the customer

behavior. Tamil, Hindi and English movies do get released in Kerala but


101

Malayalam cinema is able to withstand any onslaught because they have created

a space for themselves.

Kannada cinema, on the other hand, seems to have given up the position it had

secured in the 70s and tried to be like Hindi, Tamil and Telugu movies. This has

resulted in a situation where Kannada movies are not considered at par with

Tamil or Telugu movies and they also do not have an identity of their own. This

is a dangerous position to be, and sooner the industry gets out of this the better

it is for it.

Efforts are required to have a better understanding of the audience and the ethos

of the land. Senior producer / directors must be involved and their guidance

sought in charting out a direction for the industry. It is alright to look at Chennai

or Hyderabad for technical expertise but the industry must look within for

stories, ideas and direction.

11. Periodic Audience Survey It is a universally accepted fact that movie business is very risky and we have

seen that the productive theatrical time window available to movies is just one

week from the date of release. The consumer study has shown that a majority of

the moviegoers are young. Today’s younger generation is truly global in the

sense that they are well connected with the rest of the world. They are more

aware, materialistic and seek instant gratification. What is more, their values and

beliefs keep changing, which in turn impact their tastes and preferences. It is

also said that the generation gap is now just 7 years as compared to a couple of


102

decades earlier. Some consumer studies have also shown that rural India is also

undergoing a sea change due to wider exposure through TV and Internet. Rural

youth today is as aspirational and brand conscious as its urban counterparts.

Given this, it is very necessary that the movie industry keeps itself updated on

the changing likes and dislikes of its target audience. The data available on

Kannada movie industry is patchy and not reliable. Professional agencies such as

Earnst & Young and IMDB do undertake studies but they focus more on

Bollywood and the commercial aspects of cinema. Consumer studies are rare and

Kannada cinema can take a lead in this. Government bodies such as Karnataka

Chalanachitra Academy or private bodies such as Film Chamber of Commerce

can initiate such studies and share the results with rest of the industry. What has

been attempted in this work is just the tip of the iceberg and there are many

more things to be uncovered with regard to consumers for the cinema industry.

12. Smart Marketing Cinema watching has changed drastically. Earlier, it was sufficient to have a good

story, strong performances and good star cast to ensure success of movies. The

number of movies released were less and people came back to watch good

movies repeatedly. There was no TV, no You Tube to compete with and even

mediocre movies clicked because they had good songs and theatres was the only

place where people could enjoy these songs.

Today, more number of movies is released every year. Indian market has opened

up and Hollywood movies are also released in India along with rest of the world.


103

Audience has alternatives such as Television, You Tube to watch movies.

Moreover, there are TV programmes, IPL cricket matches and, shopping malls

that can substitute movies for entertainment. Needless to say, the scenario has

become very competitive and complex. Content of the movies is not sufficient

enough to lure the audience to theatres and moviemakers have to depend on

marketing activities. There is research evidence that promotion of movies

through marketing activities has an impact on the success of movies.10 A study

carried out in 2008 shows that most movies that had good content and

aggressive promotion were blockbusters. Moreover, it is also shown that

aggressive promotion can lead to success even if the content is not very good.

The following table taken from the aforementioned research study testifies it. It

studies a sample of movies from 2000 – 2006 with regard to their content, level

of promotion and the success. From the table it can be seen that some movies,

though good in content failed because they did not promote the movies

adequately.

Though the examples cited are from Bollywood, the study is relevant for

Kannada movies as well. Kannada movies are not marketed well. Most of the

times, one sees hoardings and posters but the other ways of marketing is lacking.

The younger generation today is digitally connected and it is important to make

an impact here.

10 “Marketing strategies of Bollywood movies in India and overseas : An empirical study”, by P Prasada Rao and Karthik Kannan, The ICFAI journal of Business Strategy, Vol 5, No.1, 2008


104

(promotion level 1 – 10 with 1 being low and 10 being high: Content Y for yes and N for No)

Movie Content Promotio

n Level Status

Lage Raho Munnabhai Y 9 All Time Blockbuster

Salaam Namaste Y 6 Blockbuster

Munnabhai MBBS Y 7 Blockbuster

Kaho Na Pyar Hai Y 5 Blockbuster

Chale Chalte Y 5 Blockbuster

Hanuman Animation Y 5 Blockbuster

Veer Zaara Y 6 Blockbuster

Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham Y 6 Blockbuster

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna Y 6 Super Hit

Sarkar Y 3 Super Hit

Black Y 2 Super Hit

Koi Mil Gaya Y 4 Hit

Lagaan Y 4 Hit

Mangal Pandey Y 1 Hit

Devdas Y 2 Hit

Asoka Y 3 Flop

Lakshya Y 3 Flop

Chameli Y 1 Flop

Swades Y 4 Flop

Bunty Aur Babli N 7 Blockbuster

No Entry N 6 Blockbuster

Krrish N 8 Blockbuster

Dhoom 2 N 10 Blockbuster

36 China Town N 5 Super Hit

Dhoom N 6 Super Hit

Golmaal N 4 Blockbuster

Kaante N 3 Flop

Naksha N 2 Flop

Tango Charlei N 2 Flop

The Hero N 1 Flop

Following are some of the marketing initiatives that the movie makers can think

of

a) Trending of Kannada trailers on YouTube: Regional languages like

Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam industry releases movie trailers on


105

YouTube and quite often these trailers trend with millions of views. The

trailer is released 3-4 months before the movie release. This creates

interest among the audience, they can identify with a movie release if they

have seen the trailer. Google found out that most people find out about a

movie about four weeks in advance of its release date, often coinciding

with the release of a trailer. Coupling trailer-related searches with

franchise status and seasonality metrics (does it open in the summer, or

holidays?), they found that they could predict box office variance at 94

percent. 11

The trailer of Ulidavaru Kandante is the classic example of good launch on

YouTube in recent times. The trailer garnered 4,74,271 views. Thus it

becomes critical to trend your trailer on YouTube using paid campaigns

such as YouTube Trends.

b) Audio Launches: Almost all the famous Tamil/Telugu cinema stars have

an audio release planned, two months before the movie release. This

again creates interest among fans and cinema goers. This audio release is

telecasted on regional channels. It creates awareness about the movie.

Kannada superstars rarely hold audio launches and success celebration of

their movies. These launches can be used as tool to create buzz and

market the movie.

11 “Do Youtube movie trailer searches correlate to box office success?”, www.reelseo.com accessed on 25th August 2015


106

c) Alternate avenues to showcase parallel cinema: Cinema reaches the

audience using online paid platforms like TVF Box office

(http://tvfinboxoffice.com/#!home). Few critically acclaimed movies find

it difficult to get a theatrical release. Such Kannada movies can use the

online paid platforms. This model works on subscription or one-time

payment from movie viewers. The point of difference here is when you

pay to watch a movie, 80% of the money is transferred back on free-

charge and you can use the money on free charge. Technically the viewer

pays minimal amount (20%) and watches the movie. This way we can

maximize the reach of Kannada cinemas. This type of viewing is popular

is U.S and is catching up in India

d) Create positive Blogs: The post release marketing is also a very

significant as a positive buzz about the movie keeps the interest intact

among the target segment. Blog sites that write good about a movie can

be developed by people who have liked the movie and postings on the

facebook can also help promote movies.

e) Celebrities as Movie Critics: There are many movie critics appearing on

every TV channel after the release of movies. These reviews definitely

have an impact on the minds of the customers. Instead of having the TV

staff as movie critics, it would be innovative to have a celebrity come on

the TV to talk good about the movies. People such as Jayanth Kaikini have

a lot of credibility and if they say positive things about a movie it is bound

to have a positive impact.

http://tvfinboxoffice.com/#!home


107

13. Connect through Film Society The recent Malayalam blockbuster had a 100 day run in the United Arab

Emirates (UAE). The success can be attributed to the large Malayali diaspora in

the gulf nations but a significant number of non-Malayalis also would have

watched the movie. Sadly the viewership of Kannada movies outside Karnataka

is dismally low compared to other south Indian languages. Kannada families

settled outside Karnataka do not watch Kannada movies and hence their

children also do not get to watch Kannada movies. This potentially eliminates

future audience for Kannada movies. One way of countering this is to develop

Kannada Film Societies outside the sate in major cities. Industry should take

initiatives and identify Kannada movie buffs in these places and designate them

as champions. These champions can lead the initiative of developing Kannada

movie watching habits among outside state Kannadigas.

14. Identification and development of artistic talent In the past, stars such as Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra and Vinod Mehra have

emerged through talent search contests. While Dharmendra came through a

Filmfare12 organized contest, Rajesh Khanna and Vinod Mehra were the products

of a talent search contest organized by a group of producers that included G P

Sippy, Shakti Samantha and Nazir Hussain.

Similar efforts are required in Kannada movie industry to identify and develop in

house talent. It is a fact that star power plays a significant role in the success of

12 A very popular fortnightly magazine dedicated to Hindi movies


108

movies and more stars with box office pull can ensure a longer run for movies at

the theatres. It is also a fact that the most important ingredient to become a star

is talent. Actors such as Rajkumar, Anant Nag and Vishnuvardhan were bundles

of talent and actors such as Ambareesh and Prabhakar worked their upwards

through sheer talent. There is no dearth of talent in Karnataka and there are

artistes waiting to be tapped by moviemakers. They only need a platform to

showcase their talents. Kannada producers must look outside Bangalore for

talent in the area of acting, singing, story writing and screenplay.

15. Cost Management One of the problems plaguing the industry is high cost of making movies. This

compels the movie makers to look only at stars having box office pull so that

initial draw at the box office is ensured. Because the cost of making movies is

high, a majority the producers seem to avoid all kinds of risk, which is seen in

their preference for remake movies and avoidance of any type of

experimentation in story and screenplay.

One way of improving the quality of movies and experimenting with new faces is

to overcome market risks by non-traditional methods of financing the movies.

There have been instances of movies being made from the money raised from

public. For example Lucia, a psychological thriller film written and directed by

Pawan Kumar, premiered at the London Indian Film Festival in July 2013 and

won the Best Film Audience Choice award at the festival. It was also among the

films shortlisted by the FFI to become India's submission for Academy Award for

Best Foreign Language Film for the year 2013. Made on a shoe string budget of


109

Rs.50 lakhs, it went on to make more than Rs.3 crores at the box office.

Lucia is notable for its use of crowd funding technique. It was funded by 110

investors who contributed to the project through a Facebook page and a blog run

by director-actor Pawan Kumar. It was the first Kannada movie to bypass the

traditional film-financing mode. Lucia was made at a budget of Rs.50 lakhs and

made in excess of Rs.3 Crores. Kannada language television channel Udaya TV

bought the satellite rights of the film for Rs.95 lakhs.

A similar approach is seen in Kerala with film maker Sudevan, who has funded

his movies through contributions from fans. The contributions are often in the

range of Rs.100- Rs.500 and occasionally Rs.1000 – Rs.5000. His first feature

film, CR No.89, cost Rs.7.25 lakhs and was made mainly from such

contributions.13

The success stories of such endeavors have not reached many people. These are

published as newspaper articles that are not read by the masses. If the industry

can institutionalize crowd funding by streamlining all the activities related to it,

it will gain more popularity and credibility. The success of such a system can

ensure improvement in the quality of movies and more experimentation in

Kannada cinema.

13 “A film runs through this village” by Charmy Harikrishnan, India Today, July 13, 2015


110

16. Stars as partners The industry should look at stars not just as box office attractions but also as

entities who can play a larger role in the overall movie making value chain. Stars

can contribute and gain much more by participating in the following initiatives.

Producers can have stars as partners in their movies. Stars can be allowed to

invest in the movies or stars can be given the distribution rights of certain

territories. This will ensure a better commitment from stars towards the movies

they are involved in.

Stars can also be involved in marketing activities of movies in a sustained

manner. Other than the pre-release promo, shows stars can also travel to

important locations to promote movies. Recently Actor Sathish Ninasam along

with the music director Poornachandra Tejaswi visited colleges in Davangere to

promote Lucia. It is a common practice among Bollywood stars to travel to

important locations such as Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune for promoting their

movies. This can be done for Kannada movies as well. Stars can also be involved

in the activity of sending sms messages in their name so that the message has

more value and credibility. Comprehensive contracts with stars can be signed

covering all these aspects.

17. Story – Originality (Industry) One of the major complaints among the Kannada movie watching audience is

that Kannada movies lack good stories and originality. Gone are the days when a

lot of Kannada movies were based on novels. The pioneer in this practice was


111

Puttanna Kanagal whose hit movies, Nagarahavu, Gejje pooje, Sharapanjara,

Dharmasere, Shubhamangala, Paduvarahalli Pandavaru were all based on novels.

The practice of converting good popular novels and stories into movies seems to

have waned in the last couple of decades. It also often heard moviemakers

complaining that there are no good stories in Kannada language. This argument

is rather difficult to accept, as the literary world of Karnataka is full of

distinguished writers.

What seems to be lacking is a bridge between the industry and the literary

world. First of all, there is a need for directors and producers to keep searching

for good stories and think out of the box. This requires connect with good,

popular storywriters on a continuous basis. Directors can also share a story idea

and ask these writers develop the story instead of waiting for the writers to

come up with the stories first. Producers can partner with magazines to run

story / novel writing competition with a promise that the prize winning stories

will be made into movies.

Given the cultural diversity in Karnataka, it is important that the stories are

chosen with great care and consideration. Hence, moviemakers need to look for

stories that have universal appeal within Karnataka. Movies such as Drishyam

(Malayalam), Sooryavansham, Thevar Magan and Chinna Thambi (all Tamil) were

remade in many Indian languages and they all clicked because the theme appeal

was pan Indian. Even the recent blockbuster “Bahubali” has done well in all

languages not because of its technical gloss but it was rooted in Indian culture

and had a Chandamama based folk – fantasy that every Indian liked. Kannada


112

moviemakers should look into aspects that unite various parts of Karnataka

(North Karnataka, Mysore Karnataka, Hyderabad Karnataka & Coastal

Karnataka) while choosing stories and themes. Consumers have indicated action

and comedy as their favorite genres but within this, care should be taken to

make movies that have pan Karnataka appeal.

Annexure - 1

Annexure - 1

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR MOVIE WATCHERS

Dear Sir,

We are a top ranked business management college in India and we are conducting a

study on movie watching habits and preferences with a focus on Kannada movies. In this

connection we require some data, which we are capturing through the questions below.

We would be extremely grateful if you can spare some time to complete this

questionnaire. Your cooperation will go a long way in helping the industry –

1. What is your gender?

a) Male ☐

b) Female ☐

2. Please tick the age group to which you belong –

a) Between 16 to 25 years ☐

b) Between 26 to 40 years ☐

c) Between 40 to 60 years ☐

d) Above 60 years ☐

3. Please tick your qualification from the options below –

a) SSLC (X Std.) ☐

b) Graduate ☐

c) Post-Graduate ☐

4. Please indicate your income group from the options below –

a) Less than Rs.5,000 p.m. ☐

b) Between Rs.5000 to Rs.15,000 p.m. ☐

c) Between Rs.15,000 to Rs.40,000 p.m. ☐

d) Between Rs.40,000 to Rs.1,00,000 p.m. ☐

e) More than one lakh p.m. ☐

5. Please mention your mother-tongue - ……………………………….

6. Please mention which language are you most conversant with ……………

Annexure - 1

7. Which language movies do you normally watch? (please tick in the relevant box)

Never watch Rarely watch Frequently Watch

Always watch

English

Hindi

Tamil

Telugu

Kannada

Malayalam

Tulu

Marathi

8. How much do you like watching movies?

a) I really like watching movies ☐

b) I like watching movies ☐

c) I neither like nor dislike watching movies ☐

d) I dislike watching movies ☐

e) I really dislike watching movies ☐

9. How often do you watch movies in theatres?

a) Once a year or less ☐

b) Several times a year ☐

c) Once a month ☐

d) 2 to 3 times a month ☐

e) Once a week ☐

f) 2 to 3 times a week ☐

10. Where do you frequently watch movies?

a) Single Screens ☐

b) Multiplex ☐

11. In general, how much do you like watching movies from the following genres?

Genre Really Dislike

Dislike Neither like nor dislike

Like Really Like

Action

Comedy

Crime

Family Drama

Horror

Annexure - 1

Romance

Historical

Mythological

Suspense

Science Fiction

12. Please rank your preference to watch movies of the following languages

(Rank 1 as most preferred language, 2 for next and so on)

Preference Rank

Kannada

English

Hindi

Telugu

Tamil

Marathi

Malayalam

Others

13. Please indicate the criteria based on which you decide to watch movies (tick all that

apply)–

a) Entertainment value ☐

b) Popularity based on reviews ☐

c) Star cast ☐

d) Music, dance and story in the movie ☐

e) Director of the movie ☐

f) Time-pass ☐

14. You normally watch movies–

a) Alone ☐

b) With Friends ☐

c) With Family members ☐

d) With Colleagues ☐

e) Not very particular of company ☐

15. How often do you watch Kannada movies?

a) Never ☐

b) Rarely ☐

c) Sometimes ☐

d) Often ☐

e) Always ☐

Annexure - 1

16. Which is the last Kannada movie seen by you?

…………………………

17. Indicate your opinions on the Kannada movies released in the years’ shown below by

ticking any one alternative for each decade.

Decade Very Good

Good Average Bad Very Bad

1970’s

1980’s

1990’s

2000’s

2010 onwards

18. What do you think is the problem with Kannada movies? (Tick all that apply)

a) No good story ☐

b) No quality music ☐

c) No Good Actors ☐

d) No beautiful locations and settings ☐

e) Poor Star cast ☐

f) Expensive prices at Multiplex ☐

g) Not released frequently in Multiplex ☐

h) Very less marketing activities before movie release ☐

i) No originality ☐

j) Very far from Kannada culture ☐

k) Not impressive as movies from other languages ☐

l) Not lavish and posh ☐

19. Please rank the aspects you look for in a Kannada movie

(Rank 1 as most preferred aspect, 2 for next and so on)

Aspect Your Rank Better Star cast Good quality music, locations and language Originality Affordable price at Multiplex More Kannada movie releases in Multiplex More remake of movies from other languages Good Marketing activities before movie release Close to Kannada culture Movies based on Novels Richer in production values

Annexure - 1

20. What is the role of the government in ensuring better viewership of Kannada movies?

a) Low ticket prices both in Single Screens and Multiplexes ☐

b) Screen more Kannada movies in Multiplexes ☐

c) Ensure low price of eatables in Multiplexes ☐

d) More facilities to industry for producing quality movies ☐

*****

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PGP STUDENTSDear Student

We are doing a study on the movie industry and in this regard we wish to collect some information about movie watching habits and preferences among the younger generation. We have prepared a small questionnaire for data collection and we request you to kindly spare some time to complete the questionnaire. Your cooperation will go a long way in giving useful inputs to the movie industry for whom we are doing this project.

* Required

1. 1. Your Name (Optional):

2. 2. Your Gender (please click)Mark only one oval.

Male

Female

3. 3. Your Age (please click):Mark only one oval.

20 - 22 Years

22 - 25 Years

above 25 Years

4. 4. Please click on the income group that your family belongs to :Mark only one oval.

Less than Rs.25000 per month

Rs.25000 to Rs.50000 per month

Rs.50000 to Rs. 1 lakh per month

Above Rs. 1 lakh per month

Annexure - 2

5. 5. What is your mother tongue? (Please click on the appropriate button below) *Mark only one oval.

English

Hindi

Bengali

Marathi

Oriya

Gujarati

Kannada

Tamil

Malayalam

Telugu

Konkani

Tulu

Coorgi

Others

6. 6. Which is the language that you are most comfortable conversing? (Please click onthe appropriate button/buttons below) *Check all that apply.

English

Hindi

Bengali

Marathi

Oriya

Gujarati

Kannada

Tamil

Malayalam

Telugu

Others

Annexure - 2

7. 7. In addition to your mother tongue, which other languages do you speak? (Pleaseclick on the appropriate buttons below) *Check all that apply.

English

Hindi

Bengali

Marathi

Oriya

Gujarati

Kannada

Tamil

Malayalam

Telugu

Others

8. 8. Please indicate your reading habits below (please click the appropriate buttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Read VeryFrequently

Read Most of theTimes

ReadSometimes

NeverRead

DailyNewspapersBooksWeeklyMagazinesMonthyMagazinesInternet

9. 9. In which languages do you do your reading (please click the appropriate buttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Always Read Most of the Times Read Sometimes Never Read

EnglishHindiBengaliMarathiOriyaGujaratiKannadaTamilMalayalamTeluguOthers

Annexure - 2

10. 10. Do you listen to music? (please click the appropriate button) *Mark only one oval.

Yes

No

11. 11. If the answer to the above is yes, which types of music do you listen to? (pleaseclick the appropriate buttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Most of the Times Sometimes Very Rarely Never

Western MusicIndian classicalIndian Movie Songs

12. 12. If you listen to movie songs, which language movie songs do you listen to (pleaseclick the appropriate buttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Always Listen Most of the Times Listen Sometimes Never Listen


13. 13. Do you watch movies in theaters? (please click the appropriate button) *Mark only one oval.

Yes

No

Annexure - 2

14. 14. If the answer to the above is yes, what is your movie watching habit? (Please clickon the appropriate button below)Mark only one oval.

Once a year or less

Several times a year

Once a Month

2 – 3 times in a month

Once a week

2 – 3 times in a week

15. 15. In which languages do you watch movies? (please click the appropriate buttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Most of the times Sometimes Very rarely Never


16. 16. What is the genre of movies that you like to watch? (please click the appropriatebuttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Like verymuch

Somewhatlike

Somewhat do notlike

Do not like atall

ActionComedyRomanceCrime ThrillersFamily DramasHorrorHistoricalScience FictionSuspenseMythologial

Annexure - 2

17. 17. On what basis do you decide to watch a movie (please click the appropriatebuttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Always Most of the Times Sometimes Never

Entertainment ValueRatings by reviewersStarcast of the moviePopularity of MusicAppeal of storylineRecommendation by friendsPopularity of DirectorBased on Trailers and Promos

18. 18. With whom do you normally watch movies ? (please click the appropriate buttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Always Most of the Times Sometimes Never

With FamilyWith FriendsAlone

19. 19. Do you watch TV ? (please click the appropriate button)Mark only one oval.

Yes

No

20. 20. On an average how much time do you spend watching TV everyday (If the answerto the above is Yes) (please click the appropriate button)Mark only one oval.

Below 30 minutes

30 minutes to 2 hours

2 hours to 4 hours

More than 4 hours

Annexure - 2

Powered by

21. 21. In which languages do you watch TV ? (If the answer to the Qn.No:19 is Yes)(please click the appropriate buttons.)Mark only one oval per row.

Always Most of the times Sometimes Never


Annexure - 2

Documents

KANNADA FILM INDUSTRY CHALLENGES & THE …kcainfo.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kannada-Film...producer/director and Chairman of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, Bengaluru for urging