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S R Ramakrishna

Noted music director and writer

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Ban on dubbing in Kannada cinema and television industry

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I just want to know which is better Quantity or Quality of content ? I also want to know which is needed kannada language ( its death ) or kannada so called artists ( their economic prosperity) I want to know which is better global competion or total protection Asked by: Girish DS
It is unfortunate that this has become a Kannada vs Kannada artistes row. Both need to survive and thrive, and one can't do that at the cost of the other. America used to oppose protectionism in India, but is now eager, even desperate, to protect its own jobs and industry. So there can be no final answer to your question of what's better: global competition or total protection.
Even if you dont allow it on TV, many of understand Hindi. If I wait for one more hour, can I not see the dubbed content online. You guys can only keep talking about Dr Rajkumar's achievements, but each one of you is incapable of doing anything worthwhile for either Kannada language, culture or films. Making remakes with longu, machchu and drunkards does not hide kannada films' pathetic state. Asked by: Hiremath
In fact, 'Satya Harishchandra' was the first film to be dubbed in India. It was made in Kannada, and then dubbed into Tamil. Kannada can produce fine cinema, as anyone who has followed the new wave of the 1970s can tell you. Films with mindless violence are a bane, no question about that.
Isn't the solution to the unpopularity of Kannada film and TV to produce better content. As far as I can see the Kannada film industry truly lags behind other film industries - most notably the Tamil and Hindi film industries. Asked by: Avinash
The Kannada film industry is mainly apprehensive about films dubbed from Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. But the problem is not confined to Kannada. Telugu producers are urging the government to protect their industry from the 'onslaught' of Tamil films. Read this report in the Times of India: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-04/hyderabad/31121274_1_film-industry-tfpc-t-prasanna-kumar-reddy
I am wondering if the Kannada artists are overconfident of their abilities or they think audience are idiots. One of them must be true. If they are so good with their content, why dont they stand the test of public acceptance or rejection, than resorting to cheap bans? They were already on their way down..now they are down the abyss. Asked by: Manja
There's no ban in the legal sense. It's a convention that has survived from the 1960s, when the Kannada film industry had to do all its production in Chennai (like almost all southern industries of the time). Many industries feel threatened by their more affluent counterparts. In fact, Europe has had a running feud with Hollywood. Read this article by Prakash Belawadi to understand how Europe has responded to threats to its film cuture: http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/36/2012050420120504160238151a758036/Ay-there%E2%80%99s-the-dub.html
Hell Sir, I am a kannadiga but I feel this is selfish from Kannada film Industry, we would also like to watch other language movies, tv shows etc in native Kannada language. My mother, father, grand father dont know any language apart form Kannada..it would be great if they could watch discovery, NGC...Aamir Khan like shows in kannada.. what you think about this selfishness of Kannda film Industry..? Asked by: Kiran
A couple of industry insiders I spoke to agree with you. They say there should be no restriction on the dubbing of programmes on channels like History, National Geographic, Discovery, Pogo, and Cartoon Network. The idea of receiving great educational and documentary programmes in Kannada enjoys wide acceptance, at least among the film industry folks I have spoken to.
What kind of ban is this. Which audience will go to dubbed movie if there is better quality in their own language. Why force the audience that you cant view anything from outside local language even if it is off good quality, and you should only be restricted to what local language offers irrespective of its quality. Unfair. To protect Kannada language, culture and jobs, improve its quality than stopping dubbed versions. Asked by: Guna
Kannada has a vibrant literary culture. Its publishing industry is doing well, and thousands of books are published every year, many of them translations. Kannada writers are regarded highly across India and the world for the themes they tackle. They keep winning the highest literary awards in India. The problem is the disconnect between the Kannada literary culture and the Kannada film industry. Even the Telugu and Tamil film industries are worried about dubbing in their own way, but that does not mean dubbing is an unqualified villain. Even Bollywood is afraid of dubbing, as you can see from this report: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-20/news-interviews/30298190_1_english-films-tamil-kannada-industry
Satyameva Jayate is a programme based on issues. So dont u feel u can relax ban for this one occassion to reach wider audience? Asked by: Kartik
A well-known Kannada film director who supports the ban saw Satyameva Jayate and said he would have to qualify his opposition to dubbing. 'Anything that is educational and documentary in nature should be allowed to be dubbed' is his modified position. He feels restrictions on TV entertainment programmes (such as the saas-bahu serials) should remain in place.
Please pick your choice: Sadhu Kokila's kannada OR Aamir Khan's Hindi. Answer to this question will help me understand the cultural aspect of this so called struggle (sic). Asked by: Ganesh
Tastelessness isn't a language issue. You can be tasteless in any language! This is as unfair as asking, 'Himesh Reshammiya or Bhimsen Joshi: Pick your choice.'
if protecting Kannada language is the sole intention of banning dubbing, why target cinema and TV series alone. I am a staunch supporter of providing opportunities to locals and respecting nativity, but I am definitely not impressed with the Kannada film industry's lack of vision. Why ban dubbing in TV serials and cinema alone but leave the advertising industry to flourish? Aren't the ads considered work of audio-visual art which reaches a huge population. Why is the industry turning a blind eye to that? Is the industry so weak that it can't get a commercial sector to respect them? Asked by: Sridhar
Good question! Many believe this controversy is all about defending 'turf'. And since there's no serious turf in advertising to defend in this part of the world, no one's talking about it. Mumbai rules.
Disadvantages by not Dubbing 1)We have started seeing original language films from tamil, telgu. 2)ppl have learnt tamil, telgu by watching movies. they can understand and speak clearly. 3)we have kept away from good knowlegeable contents for childrens(animate movies/ National Geo) so even childrens are glued to surya tv , sun tv etc bcos they show in that. 4)Bcos of the above things the other industry have started to release their movies in huge numbers in our place(recently 150 print release of a telgu film) 5)kannada industry ppl are remaking tamil telgu movies to kannada. tel me y we want to watch it, you have already made us to watch in tamil/ telgu n we are not interested to see in kannada version now. Do you see any of the point saving our language. we are inviting a serious threat. i personally beleive cinema industry has a huge role in keeping the intrust of a language n saving the language. its above 90% and kannada industry is not doing that. With huge respect to the legend Dr. Rajkumar who really worked hard for the language n good kannada cinema. what he did in 60's is right for 60's. But the current scenario is different. we have to change according to it. now pls tel me advantage of dubbing if any. Asked by: Raghav UK
This is the biggest problem the industry will have to confront. By banning dubbing, it is indirectly encouraging cinema in other languages. The problem is that the richer industries will create a monolithic culture and erase all cultural identities. But you are right. Some solutions create bigger problems!