It’s not often that you see people who matter in KFI going into a soul searching mode. That rarity manifested a few days ago in the “Maatu Manthana,” program held at the Raj Milan Green House organized by Film Journos. Along with many of the stars and media persons, even the people who put their money into this dream world, i.e., the producers and distributors also participated in the program.
Needless to say, the focus was on the current state of KFI, which isn’t looking healthy from any angle. While films in other languages are still attracting the crowd, Kannada films have shown poor in box office collections with very few respectable exceptions. Producer and distributor Jayanna says, “The state of the KFI is not good at present. If the collections of the first week is around 5-6 lakh rupees, it plummets down to 1 lakh in the later stages. So, even though the newly introduced percentage system will be helpful in other parts of the state, in Bangalore the old rental system will hold good”
Does that bring us back to square one when it comes to the producer-distributor row? Not really, “The issue will be solved within a week or two, after arranging a meeting,” says Jayanna.
Producer and distributor N. Kumar criticised the attitude of some of the producers who are invading the KFI with their kith and kin. “These people believe that if the film flops, they will lose a site; but if it works, they will get a whole layout! Fortunately, the number of such producers is dwindling now and old war horses such as KCN Chandrashekhar are back in the business”
But it was Jayanna who hit the nail on the head with his comments. “KFI needs directors who can deliver good movies within a limited budget. The best example for this are the films like Mungaru Male and Duniya,” he said.
Other film journalists such as Vijayasarathi, P. Ram, Shyam Prasad, and Suresh participated in the meet.
