Brahmastra: Kannada version of Ranbir Kapoor’s film gets abysmally low number of shows and in 2D only

In this day and age of pan-India releases, every time a big-ticket film from another industry comes to Karnataka, the question that arises is the distribution of language-specific shows. Without fail, there’s always a massive hue and cry about the complete lack of or disproportionate allocation of shows in Kannada.

SS Rajamouli’s RRR was the first that was in the line of fire, more so because the lead cast had dubbed for their roles in the Kannada version. And yet, there were barely any shows, which the distributor claimed was due to disinterest by exhibitors in anything but the original version. If the buzz on social media is anything to go by, audiences are not interested in watching films that are either not dubbed into Kannada or don’t get enough screens and shows. The ground reality, though, is anything but, with audiences lapping up the films in the original language and distributors and exhibitors continuing to push this trend.

This week too, there have been sporadic calls to #BoycottBrahmastra with the added #NoKannadaNoBusiness tag. This time around, not only has the Kannada version of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer only gotten a handful of shows/screens, but it will also only be in 2D. The Ayan Mukherji directorial has a 3D version, which, in Hindi, has close to 200 shows in Bengaluru alone. The Tamil and Telugu versions will also get 3D outings in Bengaluru. The question that is popping up on the internet is, of course, why the makers even bother with dubbing it into Kannada and getting popular names like Yogaraj Bhat, Jayanth Kaikini, etc, involved for the translated dialogues/lyrics, if their efforts are not getting an audience. Is the dubbing process only with an eye on a better OTT deal?

Industry insiders maintain that the outrage over this lack of interest in exhibiting Kannada versions of big releases is limited to the online space. “Right now, if you look at the online booking option for Brahmastra in Kannada, there are 6 shows spread across two theatres in the heart of Gandhinagar and have only 40-50% occupancy so far. If this doesn’t pick up, even those 6 shows risk being reallocated to another film. The distributors and exhibitors cannot be blamed for choosing to go with the more popular versions of any film. Until and unless this online activism translates into actual footfalls for the Kannada version of a non-Kannada film, this will not change. It’s a simple logic; when we take our films to other markets, it’s the version in the local language there that gets more shows. For this to work in Karnataka, audiences have to be more responsive to watching these films in Kannada,” says a cine business tracker and critic on condition of anonymity.