Kannada film producers are at loggerheads with the 2009-10 subsidy committee and are urging to dissolve the committee and set up a new one so that there won’t be any corruption.
Some members of the 2009-10 subsidy committee headed by veteran actor-producer-director Shivaram demanded bribes from various Kannada film producers and directors. He told them that they would get a subsidy of 10 lakh for their films. The Karnataka Government has been giving subsidy for quality films for many years now and this time the number of films was raised from 20 to 50.
Many producers and directors bribed members like Ravishankar, Suresh Mangalore and Mahadev in the belief that they would get subsidy for their films, but many were cheated at the last minute. More than 90 films were sent to the subsidy committee and the committee selected 50 films including the award winning films.
Director Kodlu Ramakrishna, who gave an amount of three lakhs as bribe money to Suresh, performed a sting along with a news channel and got him to admit his crime. Kodlu also has a proof of depositing the money to Suresh’s account.
After the news broke out, many producers backed Kodlu and have urged the Government of Karnataka to dissolve the corrupt committee and set up a new committee to allot fresh subsidies to deserving films.
Tara who took charge of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy has also urged the Chief Minister to hold back the list as she had not signed it yet. The actress has requested that a new committee must be setup which is free of corruption.