B Suresh makes a strong case against dubbing

TV personality B Suresh, who has also scripted some award-winning films, talks to us about how he ended up joining showbiz after leaving his career as a chemical engineer, his views on the current Kannada TV scenario and why dubbing is a crime. Excerpts from the interview…How and when did you start writing scripts? My tryst with creativity began with theatre. While I was doing theatre, I met the legendary Shankar Nag, who helped me get work in films. I scripted several films as a ghost writer. In 1988, I gave up my regular job at Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and became a full time writer. My first film was Mithileya Seetheyaru, which was received well and work started pouring in. However, I mostly wrote for art house cinema till 1992. After meeting Ravichandaran, my journey in commercial cinema started. This gave me financial stability, but there was not too much creative freedom.Is that why you shifted to TV? Yes. In the later half of the ‘90s, I was offered to direct a tele-serial. Television offered me creative freedom and I loved it. My first TV project was the visualization of GP Rajaratnam’s poetry, for children. I also wrote and directed a mega-serial called Sadhane, which was a hit. Most of my tele-serials were influenced by literary works. But after a few years in television, I longed to make films. Thus, I went on to make Artha. However, I returned to television with serials like Gupta Gamini, Naku Tanthi and Thakadhimi Tha. I was simultaneously working on films like Puttakkanna Highway and Nannu Nanna Kanasu.How different is TV from cinema? There’s a big difference between the two. Television is loud compared to films. Films are like short stories. For television, every serial has to be written with a definite beginning and end, otherwise it won’t work. Once the end is certain, our job is to travel towards that end. Also, while writing for TV, the focus is more on dialogues.What is your take on dubbed serials and remakes? I don’t support it at all. I am against dubbing and remakes because I believe it is fake art. Dubbing, especially, is like raping others’ creative works. We should resort to remakes and dubbing only if we lack original content. It is the easiest way out and involves no risk.What needs to improve in Kannada television? Shows based on children are very less. Even the weekend kids’ shows are targeted more at mothers than kids. More importantly, everything is profit driven. If we are more welfare driven, a lot more good television shows can be made.