Bangalore: The Congress-led Karnataka government has announced a new OTT or over-the-top media service to promote Kannada movies exclusively.
“An OTT platform will be created in the state to promote Kannada movies,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in his budget speech Friday.
This comes against the backdrop of complaints by the Kannada film industry, claiming that several OTT platforms did not screen Kannada content, thereby not giving local cinema the same opportunity as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, or Malayalam films, or films in other languages.
Kannada actors such as Rakshit Shetty and Rishab Shetty have complained about how OTT platforms overlooked Kannada content.
While OTT for Kannada movies is a demand from the Kannada film industry, a fillip to Kannada is core to Siddaramaiah and his politics.
Siddaramaiah first entered the Karnataka legislative assembly in 1983 and, thereafter, became the first president of the Kannada Kavalu Samithi, an organisation for preserving and promoting Kannada.
The 76-year-old has also been a vocal critic of Hindi imposition by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, using Kannada as a cause to mobilise support against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the past.
Siddaramaiah Friday also announced a cap on movie ticket prices.
“The cost of the ticket of each show in all theatres of the state—including multiplexes—will be capped at Rs 200,” the CM said.
The higher allocations to the film industry are also likely to reduce its animosity towards the Congress after Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar’s comments last week added to the rift between the two sides. Shivakumar had criticised the fraternity for its absence at the Bengaluru International Film Festival.
The CM Friday also said that the cinema sector would be given the status of an industry—which, by extension, will allow the sector to benefit from the state’s industrial policy.
“A multiplex movie theatre complex will be developed under public-private partnership (PPP) on 2.5 acres of land owned by the Karnataka Film Academy in Nandini Layout, Bengaluru,” Siddaramaiah added.
He also set aside Rs three crore to create a repository of Kannada movies in digital and non-digital formats.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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