Exclusive! Government should consider giving us compensation, exemption and financial help from banks: Producer Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah

Film industries are one of the highest taxpayer industries in the world. Now, due to the Coronavirus lockdown, film industries across the world have been hugely affected, and Sandalwood is one of them. It is said that the Kannada film industry alone has faced losses of more than Rs 1000 crore. Many big-budget movies like ‘Roberrt’, ‘Kotogobba 3’, ‘Yuvarathnaa’ and others have been delayed for release.The big-budget movies like ‘Raja Veera Madakari Nayaka’, ‘KGF: Chapter 2’, ‘Madagaja’ and others have postponed their shooting schedules. It is being said that more than 100 movies are affected because of the Coronavirus lockdown. Kannada film producers Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah and Umapathy Srinivas spoke to ETimes exclusively and suggested how the Kannada film industry should take action after lockdown to bring the industry back up on its feet.
Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah, who is currently producing many big-budget movies like '777 Charlie', said, “There were three movies ready for release right now, two Kannada movies and one Malayalam movie. Even the big-budget movies have gotten affected. This is an unfortunate situation, and we don't have any other option. The theatres are also likely to open after July, altogether we get affected by five months and it's been a huge burden on us. Producers are the ones who would have invested in the movie, and they will be facing huge losses. The government should allow us to shoot for the movies ASAP, and they should consider giving us compensation, tax exemption, or some financial help from banks.”
On the other hand, Umapathy Srinivas was supposed to release the most anticipated movie of Challenging Star Darshan, ‘Roberrt’. He said, “This has affected all the industries. We can wait for four more months to take the pressure and sustain, but the people working behind the scenes are the ones who are affected more. ‘Roberrt’, ‘Kotigobba 3’, ‘Yuvarathnaa’, ‘KGF: Chapter 2’, and another eight to nine films were supposed to be released in 2020. There will be 1000 crores of losses including the turnover for our industry.”
Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah feels Kannada movies should be prioritised after lockdown. “Basically, all over India, the market has been affected. There will be many movies for release after the lockdown is over. There will be a lot of competition. We should discuss and release the movies accordingly, so producers don’t face losses. They should prioritise Kannada movies, and they should not release other movies when a Kannada movie is released. This will help the local producers.”
Umapathy Srinivas suggested another measure that may help the industry, “Every month, one movie should be released. So, other language movies can't take off the cream collection of the movie, and practically one movie needs four weeks to take back the money the makers have invested in it.”
Meanwhile, OTT platforms are buying and releasing movies online, but Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah and Umapathy Srinivas don’t have any plans of releasing their movies online. “OTT platforms have bought many movies, and we haven't done anything like that. Presently, we are very optimistic, and if the situation gets worse, we will think about OTT platforms. Let's wait and watch,” said Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah.