The Kannada film industry was trying to find its feet in the 1950s. That latter is likely to get 100 shows across the state. It remains to be seen how the anticipated sports drama ‘83’ and Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ will be received in Kannada. A film like ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ can be enjoyed by village children if it is released in their mother tongue.” Many aren’t familiar with English and Hindi. Suni, a successful commercial filmmaker, says: “Dubbing helps people from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities enjoy blockbusters.
The serial ‘Mahabaratha’ was a big hit while ‘Jagamalla’, dubbed from Ajit Kumar’s Tamil movie ‘Viswasam’, enjoyed a TRP of nine points.
Kannada-dubbed content on TV flourished during the early months of the pandemic when shooting was stopped. The Kannada versions of ‘Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy’ and ‘Dabbang 3’ collected a gross Rs 2.5 crore to 3 crore. Not many dubbed films have worked at the box office. The idea is to enhance the quality,” he says. “When we started off, there were just 20. The association will work towards nurturing voice artistes. It will support the production and distribution of dubbed films in Karnataka,” he explains. We have formed an association parallel to the Kannada Film Chamber.
His forum has now formed an association to support film makers willing to release Kannada-dubbed films in theatres. When Kannada centres prefer non-Kannada films, it is suicidal for the language, and for the Kannada film industry, says Ganesh. “Distributors have to shell out an extra Rs 2 crore for a Kannada-dubbed film so they try to create a perception that there is no demand for it in Karnataka,” says a pro-dubbing activist. Some say a nexus exists between big names in the Kannada film industry and distributors, and is coming in the way of Kannada-dubbed films. This insecurity is forcing them to oppose dubbed films,” he says. “They think the more people watch dubbed content, the more they will distance themselves from Kannada originals. He says many from within the Kannada industry fear dubbing into the language. “How can you cut the supply and then say there is no demand”? he says. Ganesh Chetan of Kannada Grahakara Koota, a consumer forum that fought a legal battle against the dubbing ban, believes vested interests are at play. Expecting the audience to watch a dubbed film, especially when the dubbing quality isn’t up to the mark, is unreasonable,” he argues. “In a cosmopolitan city like Bengaluru, the audience prefers watching a film in its original language. The campaign must go beyond social media activism and understand the business dynamics, says film critic Kairam Vaashi.Įstablishing a strong market in Bengaluru isn’t an overnight process. It has been four years since the Competitive Commission of India (CCI) ruled against the six-decade-old informal ban on dubbing in the Kannada film industry. The row laid bare many challenges peculiar to Karnataka. Upset with the disparity, Kannada activists started a campaign on Twitter with the hashtag #BoycottPushpaInKarnataka. Across Karnataka, the Kannada version had eight shows in comparison to 200 in Telugu. Only one Kannada-dubbed show was available on the day of release. The Kannada dubbed version of Allu Arjun’s Telugu film ‘Pushpa’ struggled for screens in Bengaluru last week.