A few days ago Jnanapeeth Award winner Dr Girish Karnad explained that the path breaking Kannada cinema ‘Samskara’ based on another Jnanapeeth award winner Dr UR Ananthamurthy novel was made in just Rs.95,000 and ‘Vamshavriksha’ in just Rs.1.18 lakhs. Rs.50000 via subsidy and Rs.50000 via award money put the producers in safety he recalled.

The reason to remember this is the high quantum of spending ability of the first time producer Silver Screen Pictures. Probably the producers Venkatesh Babu B and Govindaraj M have not fallen to the eyes of Kannada Film Producers Association KCN Chandrasekhar who has served 10 cost cutting measures!

Look at ‘AK 56’ the 25th film spendthrift N Omprakash Rao invitation spending. ‘AK 56’ is like annual dairy that is found in the market. It has 28 thick colorful pages and each invite cost not less than Rs.600 says the designer Mani. This happens to be the 200th film of ad designer Mani, his first one for director Om Prakash Rao who is making ‘AK 56’ in whopping Rs.6 crores budget.

The 28 pages invitation designed and printed has been sent to all the sectors of the Kannada cinema industry. The total cost of this invitation for 1500 pieces would come to Rs.10 lakhs. A recent award winning film at the state and national level was made in this amount! Mani the young designer was ready with 20 pages but according to the thickness of front and back pages he increased the number of pages.

The invitation that weighs more than half a kilogram is a prestige for the Kannada cinema industry. But what the KFPA has got to say in this kind of over spending?

Manohar. R.(Manu),
chitrataramanu@gmail.com
Photo Journalist
M: 9845549026
  : 9844904440