Even as Bollywood is struggling with the release of upcoming films like Raees and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, because of political disputes and pressure, closer home, the feud between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the issue of Cauvery water seems to have intensified.
In the last few weeks, Tamil films have vanished from Karnataka’s theatres. Biggies like Iru Mugan, Remo and Devi(l) among others, were banned from releasing in Karnataka.
A new twist in the tale is that the Tamil-dubbed Kannada film Shivanagam (Nagarahavu in Kannada) by Kodi Ramakrishna, which was to hit the marquee on October 14, was stalled from releasing in TN, owing to pressure from Tamil outfits, despite elaborate arrangements made by its distributor.
Shivanagam was to be presented by the famed production house, Thenandal Films in TN. The film features Ramya and Diganth in lead roles, with the digitally-recreated Kannada Superstar, late Vishnuvardhan. A source close to the distributor, says, “The producers of Nagarahavu will incur heavy losses. They have invested a lot in the promos as they were confident that it would do good business. After all, the movie comes from a veteran filmmaker who gave blockbusters like Arundhati and Ammoru.”
Karnataka has huge a Tamil speaking population; Kollywood movies fetch good money through distribution rights. With theatres in Karnataka not screening Tamil films now, distributors and exhibitors across the state have incurred a reported loss of '5 crores, reveals an industry source.
Trade analyst Dhananjayan says, “Karnataka contributed five to 10 percent of Tamil Nadu’s overall theatrical releases. So, that percentage of losses will also be incurred.”
Vikram-starrer Iru Mugan, Dhanush-starrer Thodari, Sivakarthikeyan’s Remo, Vijay Sethupathi’s Rekka, and Prabhu Deva’s Devi (l), faced a similar fate in Karnataka. Since the restriction was only on Tamil movies, the theatres had a mix of Kannada, Telugu and Hindi film releases. Hence, the Telugu version of Iru Mugan and Hindi and Telugu versions of Devi(l) (titled Tutak Tutak Tutiya and Abhinetri respectively), were released there.
“We regularly watch most of the Tamil movies that are screened here, during weekends. Now, we are deprived of K’town films,” says Divya, an IT employee in Bengaluru, adding, “I had to travel with my husband to Chennai to watch Kabali as we are hardcore Rajini fans.”
In a turn of events, Bengaluru has resumed screening Tamil films, with two of Sethupathi’s movies Rekka and Aandavan Kattalai, last Friday. “But that was too late and enough damage had already been done. People would have already watched pirated copies as well as online versions,” a peeved producer says.
However, Shivanagam has been pulled out of the theatres. If the Cauvery crisis continues, and with Deepavali around the corner, big Tamil films that could have otherwise expected to do good business in Bengaluru, like Karthi’s Kaashmora, Dhanush’s Kodi, Vishal’s Kaththi Sandai, etc., will take a beating in their business share from Karnataka.
“With the relationship smoothed out between the two states, blocking films will only hinder business. So, films of both languages should continue to function as they were doing earlier,” Dhananjayan concludes.
