Sandalwood, you have a Missing Link!

Sandalwood: Missing a key link!

Mr Prakash Belawadi, a renowned name in Kannada cinema and among social think tanks yesterday critiqued a recent Bangalore Mirror article titled The Economics of Dubbing. A critique well done, no doubt. But if this has to help anyone at all, that better be the end consumer of entertainment content in the Kannada Film Market (KFM).

The statistics Mr Belawadi cites is pretty straight, in that the entire Indian film market is soon going to be worth 5 billion USD and that KFI's share in that is fast dwindling. He goes on to quote that -

The Kannada film industry needs to tune in to the new age or be politely requested to drop out.

While his observations are true, the perspective in Mr Belawadi's analysis is limited to the making half in a film ecosystem. KFI, in need for an overhaul, needs to focus on the consuming half and critics such as Mr Belawadi would be better off addressing that perspective. Mr Belawadi notes that -

The average Kannadiga avoids our commercial cinema not because she lacks self-esteem but rather that she has too much of it. It is only because we love our culture so much that we shun our cinema.

but fails to elaborate the subtle need for a consumer of Kannada cinema to not shun Kannada cinema but choose various degrees of participation in the feedback mechanism. The critique misses to mention the urgent need to establish feedback mechanisms in the KFM, which could actually serve a great deal in ensuring the KFI produces what the KFM has been craving for! Outcomes of such mechanisms stand as solid proofs of concept for innovative entertainment business models, like dubbing, and also as attractive presentation of KFI as a profitable destination for investors. Expert analysts and thinkers like Mr Belawadi are expected to advocate proliferation of such market survey engines in the KFM.

Apart from deriving meaning out of what audiences are thinking, such survey systems will also add to the volume of people speaking about Kannada cinema, which is less heard if not muted today. If consumers are shunning commercial Kannada movies, that's a feedback no doubt, but that's not sufficient feedback, especially when some seniors in the industry use a flopped film to blame their audiences! The Kannadiga cine-goer needs to be heard. The cine-goers' demand for better entertainment in their own language must be met, agnostic of its maker. 

With a tough customer around, any industry will correct itself if it wants to remain worthy of business. The contemporary rowdy voices rising repeatedly against a legal market innovation called dubbing (in Kannada) will be forced to face the reality with such surveys and this will pave way for a cleaner KFM and thereby a more profitable KFI. We have to find this missing link, and we need everyone to look for it.

(Related read: The Gumma-nomics of Dubbing)

Wrong Statistics and The Gumma-nomics of Dubbing

This article in yesterday's Bangalore Mirror laid out a laundry list of so-called deterrents to dubbing in Kannada. Owing to the nature and presentation of its contents, this article sent out two messages - One that Sandalwood (KFI i.e.), as it stands today, is pure crap and people who'd like to come and invest & innovate in this industry had rather stay away or brace for super-losses. Another, that regardless of its lossy-by-design nature, the dubbing industry seems to be a threat to KFI! Seems like a big gumma (ghost in children's parlance) is running the KFI, not its talent or business acumen.

What this article does is take media rights beyond imaginable boundaries and use statistics, however unsupported, to project a notion that is deeply embedded in the minds of a few people in the KFI, and perhaps another few programmed souls in other quarters. In saying that -

The film industry has steeled itself against the onslaught of a ‘consumer group’ which is demanding dubbed content in Kannada, especially films.

and from the way it is said, the this article seems to be a mouthpiece of the anti-dubbing squad within KFI. But this very statement is so irrational with respect to the functioning of an industry. If a consumer group has been demanding dubbed film content in Kannada, is it wise for the film industry to consider it as onslaught and 'steel' itself against it?


Even if one were to momentarily accept the statistics presented in this article, isn't this 'steeling' of the industry against a consumer group (among its audiences) enough evidence for the claimed minuscule share of Kannada movies in the film market in a Kannada state? Here're some interesting anti-statistics:

1. If 9 out of 27 lakh theater-goers in Karnataka watch Kannada movies, and the other 18 lakh watch non-Kannada movies, market wisdom lies in figuring ways to attract those people towards Kannada movies again, not in blindly disowning those 18 lakh cine-goers as non-Kannadigas and mentally shrink one's own Total Available Market. 
2. It is also a true businessman's interest to see why, among 6-crore people that live in this state, only 27 lakh people (a disappointing 5%) are being captured in the film market. A careful observation reveals that a good portion of contemporary movies of KFI are remakes of movies people have already watched in other languages, and another portion of KFI made movies are deprived of screens because those theaters have very little Kannada movie choice to choose from, or yield to immense pressure from a deluge of non-Kannada movies ready to fill the gap created because of a dysfunctional image of KFI projected by itself.
3. That 50 lakh Rupees is what dubbing rights of a non-Kannada movie costs, and that 5 crore Rupees is the minimal expense of making an original Kannada movie (or even a remake), and given that the current annual revenue of the latter is just 100 crores with at least 100 movies made every year, makes dubbing of films into Kannada surely more profitable to investors than movies being Made in KFI today. Besides, it is what the people from 'consumer groups' are demanding.
4. If movies of other languages can grab 120 screens across Karnataka on the first day of their global release, and corner nearly 66% of Kannada audience, it only goes to show the command non-Kannada movies have come to hold over an otherwise Kannada movie-going audience. The reasons for such success is a shameful combination of KFI's lackluster market behavior and a daring act of entrepreneurship performed by non-Kannada film businessmen.
5. The general expectation of movie audiences always follows the best entertainer, and hence the expectation of Kannada cine-goers has outgrown the KFI itself. The time-warped KFI standards is perhaps the reason for this. But the steeling of KFI against consumer demand is portrayal of its inability to meet growing audience expectations, and display of arrogance in the form a cold-ban on dubbing. 

At this juncture, the non-Kannada movie revenue model is worth imitating for KFI, with revenues from multiple platforms like Internet, TV, Mobile and other conventional media like CD/DVD being exploited to their limits. The best way to react is to mimic, yet compete. The way to handle the evolving consumer need would have been to not oppose dubbing but embrace it in this liberal market and derive the same benefits that film industries of neighboring states have been deriving.


Lets not make belittling of ourselves the way of existence, and our ray of hope in the market. If actress Tara, the current head of KCA (Kannada Chalanachitra Academy), had to reserve her stage-seat during the recently concluded GIM 2012 with a reason, the film industry that she belongs to must show some mettle and prove its business sense. If dubbing of movies into Kannada is such a loss making business, why fear the gumma; just mind your business.

(Related read: A Dubbed audience and the suspicion around Dubbing)

"Your Actors are Unethical. Come watch Hindi movies" : Indian English Media?

During the recently climaxed Nikhita-ban episode in Kannada Film Market someone wrote "But it is also a fact that kannada film industry needs serious overhauling and crass cinema needs to be rooted out!". True. And here's what I have to add at this juncture.

The English media in this country needs an overhaul too. Firstly of course on ethical grounds, and then on similar grounds where they owe their responsibility towards their readers and towards general public welfare.

Bollywood is mostly Indian English media's selling counter. Bollywood is predominantly where women are portrayed more naked than any other "*woods" in India. That means more page-3 stuff for these brokers of lewdity & voyeurism, and this stuff only attracts more people to walk-in naked into their subsequent page-3s - Which explains the repetitive Hindi sloganeering by the back-end teams of these news 'makers'. Kissa-kursi-ka, Silsila, Pati-patni-aur-woh - these are the punchlines the purported English media employs to sell their cheap news items. 

So much held up with Bollywood and its accompanying vulgarity (conveniently renamed as cool & hot based on context!) is this inefficient English media that they hardly ever have spare time on the other *woods, also benefited by portraying Bollywood as the movie-wood of the entire nation. Thereby solemnizing their neglect towards other language movie industries.

So when there's some sensation (like the Nikhita ban) happening around Sandalwood, say, this English media doesn't blink an eyelid before pouring all of its karmas on Sandalwood and trying to suck out any remnant of an intention in people to watch Kannada movies. It does its best to defame Sandalwood in the already rendered semi-liquid minds of Sandalwood cine-goers.

But the same media family doesn't find value in sensationalizing the equally undemocratic dubbing ban that has been stinking in Karnataka since decades. Not a word of opposition or a paragraph of reporting, nor a column of news, and surely not a blog or an essay about the industry features in their dailies. 

Doesn't it all expose the English media's lackluster attitude towards the welfare and entertainment needs of its audience in Karnataka? This episode of Nikhita-ban has only brought to light in front of Kannadigas that the English media just doesn't care a damn for what Kannada movies mean to Kannadigas or what Kannada itself should mean to Kannadigas; all it is bothered about is carving out the cheapest tunnel to traffic Kannada cine-goers away from Sandalwood towards Bollywood - its selling counter - obviously something that will push its bottom-line upward.

Turning a blind eye to the diversity in its audience has probably brought short-term benefits to the English Media in this country. Short-term. Yet, unfortunate.

A 12 year Hindian Itch

Indian or Hindian?

IIFA recently announced winners of some of its annual awardees. And just how it has been in the last 11 years, this year too, this award ceremony is going to project a grand illusion that equates Hindi cinema to Indian cinema. As though they (Indian and Hindian) are not two different things, year after year this body called International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) claims great cinema being produced in India, but continues to recognize only movies made in the Hindi language. But to anyone who knows which number is bigger and which number is smaller, it is clear that there are a huge number of movies made in India that are not in Hindi; and to our ghastly surprise, IIFA in its 12 year history has never recognized a single non-Hindi 'Indian film'. And the less talked about the IIFA advisory board the better - what with the whos-who of Hindi cinema industry warming those chairs from long. How convenient to slight away all the thousands of other Indian language movies?

With all these gray facts to it, how can the IIFA still claim to be an academy of Indian Film and that too at an international level where it is that much more important to make sure India's rich diversity in its film culture gets represented in all its virginity?! In that sense IIFA has truly been polluting international opinion about the real Indian cinema industry, apart from of course plain lying to the entire world.

A lot more important and grave facts about IIFA are unraveled here on my friend's Facebook note.

Yenka says:
- ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರರಂಗ: ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಆಟಕ್ಕೂ ಇಲ್ಲಾ, ಲೆಕ್ಕಕ್ಕೂ ಇಲ್ಲಾ!
- ಇದುನ್ನ "ಇಂಟರ್ ನ್ಯಾಷನಲ್ ಹಿಂದೀ ಫಿಲ್ಮ್ ಅಕಾಡಮಿ" ಅನ್ನೋದೇ ಸರಿ!

A Dubbed audience and the suspicion around Dubbing

One interesting pattern that I find among people opposing dubbing of movies into Kannada is that they seem to be thinking more about welfare of the industry (KFI i.e.) not valuing their own expectation from the industry as customers. Talking in pure market terms, this anti-dubbing camp appears to be advocating for demanding the betterment of the supplier at the cost of the customer himself!


For a moment, if we all pause to visualize this scene from a different perspective - the perspective of a customer - we'll realize that with regards to this dubbing episode, we'd be better off thinking about the Kannada Film Market and not the Kannada Film Industry instead. The difference between these two is key to understanding why Dubbing, while not being an essential ingredient, can still be one way in which the Kannada Film Market can attract a much higher percentage of its audience to watching movies in the Kannada Medium itself.

Today a substantial mass of the Kannadiga audience is getting 'leaked' to movies from across the border(s) only because movies made in-land are, apparently, 'not enough' both in quality and quantity. There's also a historical factor of in-confidence among Kannadigas about Kannada movies, especially in the urban markets which drives them away towards more glamorous and 'not essentially' better movie markets. So this phenomenon of Kannadiga audiences leaking towards other language movies is a loss to the Kannadiga audience, and to the Kannada Film Market in essence.

Now if we were to think about the Kannada Film Market as an entity that needs to be enriched with good Kannada entertainment, whether the movie is originally a Kannada made film, or a film of another language, dubbed into Kannada, or re-made in Kannada, the end-beneficiary is in fact the Kannada film-goer him/her-self. This makes the Kannada Film Market richer.

As Dr Rajkumar always said, it is us (the Kannada movie audience) that he lived for, acted for, and prayed for. In the same way, the Kannada movie audience needs to be at the core of all planning that happens in the Kannada Film Market.

The industry (or industries) that drive entertainment & happiness into the homes & theaters of Kannada movie audience is just incidental. Does one care if a pack of biscuits one buys is manufactured by a Kannada industry or not? All you need is a good enjoyable pack of biscuits. Likewise all you need is a good enjoyable Kannada movie. Why care about the 'industry' at the cost of your own entertainment experience? Why care so much to get influenced by some tricky words with vested interests? 


A good Kannada movie is what we want. If one can get that only in a dubbed Kannada movie today, it need not mean a good Kannadiga son will not be born tomorrow to make a better movie originally in Kannada. In fact it only further increases the chance of such movies in future. It only increases the chance of more Puttanna Kanagals in the future of Kannada Film Market.

Lets stop talking about an industry, and start talking about the market. Be it Dubbing or Remaking or Swa-making, without the permission of us (the audience) no son-of-a-gun from across the borders can loot the Kannada Film Market. We are the ones that'll certify the success of a movie. We need not fear about the industry, we need fear only about our market.


(Essence of this post featured here on this Facebook thread.)

ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಸಮ್ಮೇಳನದಲ್ಲಿ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್

ನಿನ್ನೆಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ೭೭ನೇ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಸಮ್ಮೇಳನ ಕೊನೆಗೊಂಡಿತು. ಅದರ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಜಿ.ವೆಂಕಟಸುಬ್ಬಯ್ಯನವರು ಕೆಲವು ಮುಖ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಅತಿ ಮುಖ್ಯ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ತಮ್ಮ ಹಲವಾರು ಭಾಷಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊರಹಾಕಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಚಿತ್ರಗಳ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಕುರಿತಾದ ಅವರ ನಿಲುವು ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ ನನ್ನ ಗಮನ ಸೆಳೆಯಿತು. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ೬+ ಕೋಟಿ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರ ಭಾಷೆಯಾದ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಸಮ್ಮೇಳನವೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ಅಷ್ಟು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಜನಸಮೂಹದ ಎದುರು ನಿಂದು ಹೀಗೆ ಒಂದು ಜನಾಂಗದ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೇರಿಕೆಯ ಪ್ರವೃತ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಎತ್ತು ಹಿಡಿಯುವ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಕೈ-ಜೋಡಿಸಿರುವುದು ನನಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟು ಸರಿಯೆಂದು ಕಾಣಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ಚಿತ್ರ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಬೇಡವಾದರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಗಳೂ ಬೇಡ. ಅಲ್ವಾ?
ಜಿ.ವೆಂಕಟಸುಬ್ಬಯ್ಯನವರ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಪರಭಾಷೆಯಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ ಡಬ್ ಮಾಡುವುದು ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಬೇಕಂತೆ.
(೧) ಮೊದಲಿಗೆ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲು ಯಾರಿಗಾದರು ಹಕ್ಕು ಕೊಟ್ಟವರು ಯಾರು, ಯಾವಾಗ? ಒಂದು ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ಡಬ್ ಮಾಡಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಹಕ್ಕು ಕೊಡುವವರು ಕೇವಲ ಆ ಮೂಲ ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದವರು. ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಮಾಡದಿರಲು ಹೇಳಲು ಯಾರಿಗೂ ಯಾಕೆ ಹಕ್ಕು ಇದೆ? Censor ಬೋರ್ಡಿನೋರನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು!!

(೨) ಎರಡನೆಯದಾಗಿ, ಇಂದಿಗೂ ನಮ್ಮ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಟೀ.ವಿ ವಾಹಿನಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವ ಜಾಹಿರಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ - ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಬೇರೊಂದು ಭಾಷೆಯಿಂದಲೇ ಡಬ್ ಆಗಿ ಬರುತ್ತವೆ. ಹಾಗಾದರೆ ಈ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗುಗಳನ್ನೂ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಬೇಡವೇ? ಆದರೆ ಬೇರೆಡೆ ಜಿ.ವೆಂ ಅವರೇ ಹೇಳುವ ಹಾಗೆ ಬೇರೆ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಜಾಹಿರಾತನ್ನು ತಿರಸ್ಕರಿಸಿ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಜಾಹಿರಾತಿಗೆ ಒತ್ತಾಯಿಸಬೇಕಂತೆ. ಇವರ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಅರ್ಥ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳೋದು ಸ್ವಾಮಿ? ಯಾವುದನ್ನು ಸರಿಯೆಂದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು, ಯಾವುದನ್ನು ಸರಿಯಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು??

ಬೇಡವೆನ್ನಲು ಕಾರಣವಾದರೂ ಏನು..?
ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಒಂದು ಕಲೆಯಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ ಜಿ.ವೆಂ ಅವರು. ಅದೇ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ ಅದನ್ನು ನಿಷೇಧಿಸಬೇಕಂತೆ. ಅಂದರೆ ಇವರ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಚಿತ್ರವೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲೆಯಲ್ಲದ ಯಾವ ಭಾಗವೂ ಇರಕೂಡದು. ಚಲನ ಚಿತ್ರವೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ಹಣಕಾಸಿನ ವ್ಯವಹಾರವೂ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ - ಅದನ್ನೂ ನಿಷೇಧಿಸೋಣವೇ? ಹಾಗಂತ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗೆನ್ನುವುದು ಕಲೆಯಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಇಷ್ಟು ಹಗುರವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಲು ಆಧಾರಗಳಾದರೂ ಏನಿಲ್ಲಿ? ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಅಂದರೆ ಏನು ಎಂದು ಇನ್ನೂ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಕಾಲ ಯೋಚನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಿದ್ರೆ ಈ ರೀತಿ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲವೇನೋ ಮಾನ್ಯರು. ಒಂದು ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿರುವ ಚಲನ ಚಿತ್ರವಾಗಲಿ, ಜಾಹಿರಾತೂ ಆಗಲಿ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ನೋಡುಗರ ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ತಾಗಬೇಕೆಂದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಮಾಡುವ ತಂಡದವರು ಕಲಾವಿದರಾಗಿಲ್ಲದೇ ಹೋದರೆ ಆಗದು. ಇದನ್ನು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಬಹುದಾಗಿದೆ ಜಿ.ವೆಂ ಅವರು.

ಕಲೆಯಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ...
ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಒಂದು ’ಕಲೆ’ಯಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಅದು ಯಾವ ಕಲೆಯ ಉನ್ನತ ರೂಪ ಇಂದು ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಲನಚಿತ್ರೋದ್ಯಮದಲ್ಲಿ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಜಾಹಿರಾತಿನ ಉದ್ಯಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ, ಮತ್ತದರಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ ಚಿತ್ರ-ನೋಡುಗರು ಯಾವ ಕೊರತೆ ಅನುಭವಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವರೋ, ತಾತ್ಕಾಲಿಕವಾಗಿ ಆ ಕೊರತೆಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬುವ ಕೆಲಸವನ್ನಾದರು ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಮಾಡಬಹುದಾಗಿದೆ. ಕಲೆ ಮತ್ತು ಕಲಾವಿದರ ಗುರಿ ಕಲಾನುಭವಿಗಳ ಸುಖವೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದರೆ ಡಬ್ಬಿಂಗ್ ಅನ್ನು ಹೀಗೆ ವಿರೋಧಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದನ್ನು ಅಷ್ಟು ಕೇವಲವಾಗಿ ಅಂದು ಮಾತನಾಡುವುದು ಉನ್ನತ ಸ್ಥಾನವನ್ನು ಅಲಂಕರಿಸಿರುವ ಜಿ.ವೆಂ ಅವರಿಗಂತೂ ಖಂಡಿತವಾಗಿಯೂ ಸರಿಹೊಂದಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ ನನ್ನ ಭಾವನೆ. ಚಿತ್ರ ನೋಡುಗರು ಡಬ್ ಆದ ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ಬಿಡುಗಡೆಗೊಳಿಸಿದರೆ ನೋಡುತ್ತಾರೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ ಎಂಬ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯನ್ನೇ ಕೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳದೇ ಈ ರೀತಿ ಒಂದು ಕಲೆಯೂ ಆಗಿರುವ ಉದ್ಯಮದ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಗೂಬೆ ಕೂಡಿಸಿರುವುದು ಸರಿಯಲ್ಲವೆಂಬುದು ನನ್ನ ನಿಲುವಾಗಿದೆ.