05 March,2009 09:10 AM IST | | Prabhudev M
Taare Zameen Par is the latest victim of dubbing stand-off in Sandalwood. Film body wants to remake it instead with a local hero playing the Bollywood star's role Sudeep,Upendra and Ravichandran
The state education department had proposed to dub Taare Zameen Par in Kannada, but has been forced to drop the plan following loud protests by members of Karnataka Chalanachitra Kaarmikara Okkuta, a body of Kannada film workers, artistes and technicians.
Remake, don't dub
The Film Workers' Federation president Ashok admits that Taare Zameen Par is a 'good film with a strong message for students and teachers alike', but adds that he is against the plan of having the film dubbed in Kannada.u00a0
"We don't want it to be dubbed in our language. We've offered to remake the film for the education department, with our own actors like Ravichandran, Sudeep or Upendra in the lead role. Only then will the film have an impact on children in our state," he argues.
The Kannada film industry and the state government have vehemently opposed dubbing of other language films in Kannada since the 1960s. The government, in 1994, had even unambiguously stated that there was no question of accommodating any cinema dubbed in Kannada from any language. The plan of dubbing popular TV serials like Ramayana and Tipu Sultan in Kannada too had to be dropped after objection by the Okkutta and others.u00a0
The State Women's Commission had proposed to dub Provoked, the Aishwarya Rai-starrer, as it had a strong social message, a couple of years of ago. The plan too had to be shelved.
'Dr Raj said no'
When asked how the screening of the Kannada version of TPZ on a non-commercial basis would affect the interests of the Kannada film industry, Ashok says, "The Kannada film industry is confined to a limited market.
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Dubbing will harm the interests of Kannada cinema and result in unemployment. Allowing Taare Zameen Par to be dubbed will only open the floodgates. More than 200 people have already lined up to grab the dubbing rights of various movies from other languages. But we are firm in our stand. The entire industry is against dubbing. Dr Rajkumar, G V Iyer and Aa Na Kru too had fought tooth and nail against dubbing," he says.
Ashok observes that regional cinema, barring Telugu and Tamil, is wilting from the onslaught by Hindi films.
"Marathi and Bhojpuri films are in dire straits. We don't want this to happen to our industry, which is anyway struggling to find an audience. It's the question of our existence and survival," he adds.
