Dayal Padmanabhan: We do not have the leadership that we had during Dr Rajkumar’s time

The 16th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival drew to a close on March 8, but the storm around deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s remarks during the inaugural that he knows how to tighten the nuts and bolts of the Kannada film industry, in response to the low celebrity turn-out, is far from over. Filmmaker Dayal Padmanabhan, who attended the festival voiced his 2 cents about the issue.

Speaking to the media, Dayal said that he does not fault DK Shivakumar for his comments, but said that the occasion he chose to say it, in the presence of international dignitaries, was not right. “DK Shivakumar should have met Chalanachitra Academy chairman Sadhu Kokila after the event and asked him about the failings with the event. Similarly, he should have had conversations with members of the Producers’ and Artistes’ Associations, among others, and then the truth would come out,” said Dayal.

Also read: Biffes: Kishore on the ‘political’ angle to being named brand ambassador 

According to Dayal, Sadhu Kokila’s claim that pretty much everyone associated with Kannada cinema had been invited was false. “Sadhu Kokila was quoted as saying in some interview that it is not easy to invite everyone personally. That’s not true; it’s actually easy. For instance, the Chennai Film Festival does not even have a fraction of the volume that BIFFes handles, and, yet, look at the star turnout year-on-year. For Sadhu Kokila, getting some 500 members of the industry should not be tough,” he said.

Dayal explained that all that Sadhu Kokila had to do was to have personally invited 50-100 and called the rest. The filmmaker said that it was a failing in the organizing of the event on the part of the Academy chairman. The inaugural apart, Dayal added that the festival, in totality, was very unorganized. “If they had put in even a fraction of the effort that goes into the planning of making a film, it would have been a lot better,” he said.

Also read:

Ramya at BIFFes: ‘Trolling Rashmika Mandanna has to stop…’ 

The filmmaker also highlighted the lack of strong leadership in the Kannada film industry. “When Dr Rajkumar was around, it was only him and his word was the last word. Today, we do not have such leadership. There are people, like, say, Shivanna (Shivarajkumar), who can take it up, but he has health issues. If you look at the next rung of actors, there will be ego clashes among them, with no one willing to listen to the other. The industry will thrive only if everyone is willing to let go of their egos and work for the betterment of Kannada cinema as a whole.