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Small screen, big battle

In an industry where ironies abound, here's one more -- the small screen is proving to be the biggest threat to harmony among the stars of the big screen.

The industry in Kerala, thus, is rocked by a mammoth row, consequent on the formation of a body titled Joint Council of Malayalam Film Industry.

The outfit, almost immediately after inception, has imposed a ban on five feature films, citing their exposure on the small screen as the cause. And worse, has threatened to ban any film artiste who appears in small screen serials.

The films that attracted the ban include War and Love, Rapid Action Force, Dreams, Joker, Madhuranombarakkattu, and Inganeyoru Nilapakshi.

Subsequently, the council lifted its ban on three films -- Dreams, War and Love and Mathuranombarakattu -- after the respective producers explained that clippings from their films were shown on a television channel without permission.

The producer of Inganeyoru Nilakpashi, meanwhile, paid a fine, following which the ban was lifted and the film released.

The council, further, has decided to initiate legal action against the television channel Asianet for showing clippings of current and yet-to-be-released Malayalam films without permission.

Even as the council rides roughshod, the artistes are preparing to flex their muscles. As a preliminary step, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) in a statement termed the council's decision to impose bans on films and artistes as cruel.

AMMA president and veteran character artiste Innocent felt that the council should have consulted all sections of the industry before taking such drastic steps.

"A film," Innocent told Rediff.com, "is the result of joint efforts by different sections of the industry, including the artistes and technicians. It is not fair on the part of the council to take a decision affecting artistes and technicians, without having consulted us," Innocent said.

Leading producer and council convenor Siyad Koker, however, argues that no such consultation was necessary. "The rights of a film belong to the producer, producers are represented in the council, so there is no need to consult with anyone else," Koker maintained.

Koker said the council was forced to take drastic steps following the box office failure of several major films. "The bans are a disciplinary action against those who violate the council’s regulations," Koker said.

Sherif Kotarakkara, president of the Ernakulam district branch of the Kerala Cine Exhibitors Federation, adds to Koker's argument the spin that it is the exhibitor who bears the brunt of the current crisis in the industry. "When a film flops, we are the losers," Kotarakkara points out. "There were 1,600 theatres in Kerala in 1988, that figure came down to 1,350 in 1999, and now it is 1.300," he points out.

Innocent, though, is not prepared to buy into that argument. It is wrong to assume that only producers and exhibitors have been hurt by box office failures, he points out. "When films fail, the number of films being made comes down. And that affects thousands of artistes, technicians and workers, none of whom have benefits like pension, gratuity and provident fund. If production of films continues to decrease, they are the ones who will be impoverished," he argues.

A crisis undoubtedly threatens, but Innocent is not too worried. "We have seen this kind of thing before, the industry has passed through crises before," he says. "Some time earlier, there were strict regulations on film advertisements in newspapers, the industry prescribed a uniform size for advertisements for all the films. However, that did not work, and the industry was forced to remove the restrictions," the AMMA president points out.

Innocent believes the current crisis can be solved through dialogue. "We are members of the same family, we meet each other every day at work and in functions. Whatever the problems, we can sit down together and sort it all out."

Innocent believes, further, that a dialogue can begin only when all concerned accept that exposure of films through television channels is not the sole reason for the box office failures. "It is not justifiable for the council to say that is the only cause, and to ban artistes for acting in serials. We artistes merely supply the demand of the audience," Innocent argues. "If the audience wants to see us in television serials, then what is wrong with our doing them? We are actors, our job is to act, whether it is on screen or television or on the stage. You cannot impose restrictions on where we can act, and where we cannot."

Asked what steps AMMA intended to take, Innocent said that for now, the actors' body was content to watch the situation. "We will intervene at the appropriate time," he said.