Moving away from a 50-year-old self-imposed ban by private trade bodies affiliated to Kannada film and TV industry on dubbing of any type of visual content from other languages, superstar Rajinikanth’s anime Kochadaiiyaan is set to become the first of its kind since 1965, when the rule was imposed.
Bangalore Mirror reports that the dubbing and other post production processes have already been initiated and will be ready to hit the theatres by end of this February.
The producer of the film, Krishne Gowda told the newspaper that with this change, there will be a larger scope to make better original films in Sandalwood.
"Producer of many big films in other languages will dub and release the film on their own. They are waiting for the market to open up. Once that starts, filmmakers here will concentrate on original films and remakes will stop. Our purpose is to stop remakes in Kannada. This will help Kannada industry grow," he told Mirror.
The last film that was dubbed into Kannada was Telugu film Mayabazaar in 1965.
Although, there was no dubbing, filmmakers in the industry would remake popular hits in other local languages.
Gowda told Bangalore Mirror, "The script (of Kochadaiiyaan) will be ready in a couple of days and we will follow the regular format of releasing the film. There will be an audio launch soon and a trailer created too. We do not want people to say that only an animation film is being released. Work on another film is also in progress and it will be released along with Kochadaiiyaan."
Kochadaiiyaan was first released in six languages in 3000 screens worldwide in May 2014 and earned a whooping Rs 42 crore in its first week.
The dubbing is set to cost the producer Rs 50 lakh.
"Except for shooting, the rest of the cost of making a film remains. There is some concern that there will not be proper lip-sync and quality. We will prove that technically the film will be as good as the original and there will be perfect Kannada spoken by the characters. We are also roping in original singers. We have to create the expertise in dubbing from scratch," Gowda said.
Incidentally, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) and the Karnataka Television Association for anti-competitive practices of preventing telecast of dubbed serials and films in Kannada in 2015. However, despite the CCI intervention, opponents of dubbing still remain vocal.
Filmmaker B Suresha who had been known for his anti-dubbing stand said, "If such a thing happens, it will be a big negative for Kannada language. I would never support such films, even if majority of people support it. The film and television industries will somehow survive as they are businesses basically. But dubbing is not good for Kannada language and culture. That has been my stand always."