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With a low budget, we cannot copy a Hindi film ... If we try to, it becomes a cheap imitation, says Bhaktavatsala.
He is not particularly fond of delving into the past. But he is a down-to-earth person who kindles one’s spirit with witty humour and anecdotes.
Recipient of Dr Rajkumar Award, 2012, for Lifetime Achievement announced by the State government last month, M Bhaktavatsala is the man to seek for an authoritarian account of the film industry over the past five decades.
Film critic, producer, distributor and actor, he was instrumental in framing the censorship guidelines revoking imperial regulations.
As president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), the youngest president of the Film Federation of India (the only one from Karnataka in the last 40 years) and two-time president of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, he has held various senior posts in the industry. He has dabbled in acting, too, in films such as ‘Chandamarutha’ and ‘Avasthe’. From mountaineering to corporate management, his account of life is awe-inspiring.
In an interview with Deccan Herald, he gives an insight into his zest for management of film industry and a quest for “something of a lasting value.”
The career began at HMT. He completed MBA in the UK (in 1958) and on his return, he was appointed the Industrial Relations Officer at HMT. During his stint there, the company opened the watch factory in collaboration with the Citizen Watch Company, Japan. While the Japanese were certain that Indian girls could not match the craftsmanship of the Japanese females, he took it as a challenge. “I related watchmaking to ‘Kasoothi’. We selected girls for the job. After three months, the Japanese were floored by the girls’ skills.”
Five years later, Bhaktavatsala was just a step away from being the general manager when he quit HMT. “I wanted to do something of lasting value. Films were not new to me. Although my family was primarily into liquor business, my uncle Moola Lakshmi Narayana Swamy had set up Vahini Studios. I was interested in the organisational aspects of film industry.”
He began putting things in order. For the first time, a segregation of producers, distributors and exhibitors was created. Although his association with the KFCC began in 1965, he himself did not take up the position until 1971.
The turning point was the All India Film Industry Conference. “People from across the country participated in it and took notice of the Kannada industry. After my presentation on self-regulation and sectoral management of film industry, it was instantly copied across the country.”
Then came the stint with the Censor Board. “When I went to the Censor Board, there were 107 guidelines, all drafted in the beginning of the century. One rule said: ‘Natives should not be depicted dancing with a white woman.’ I wrote five guidelines in place of the 107. I wrote that censorship should be responsive to social change. And that, nothing offensive to the human sensibilities must be portrayed in films.”
Again, this was a five-year tenure followed by another five years at the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). “I was part of the committee that was nominated to study the film industry in the country. Headed by Shivaram Karanth, the team travelled 24 cities in two years. The result of this report was the NFDC.”
But films are not all. He reads extensively and loves mountaineering. He has climbed almost every peak in the Himalayas. In 2002, his knees gave away and he had to take a break.
As for the film industry in Karnataka, Bhaktavatsala now relates to it with some dismay. “Today it has become a copying industry. With a low budget, if we try to imitate the richness of a Hindi film (that sees investment of crores of rupees), it becomes a cheap imitation.”
He sees adaptation of the rich Kannada literature into films as one of the ways to revive the industry. He goes by the simple logic: “If you do not have audience, you do not exist.”
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