Pavan Srinath Quoted in Citizen Matters

Pavan Srinath was quoted in an article with Citizen Matters which tackles the issue of the informal dubbing ban of movies in Karnataka.

While the ban has never been legal, there is an unspoken agreement that does not allow dubbing of movies from other languages into Kannada. The objectives of this ban too vary from improving viewership to weeding out the competition.

Conversely, the pro-dubbing side points out that this has evolved into a vicious circle. As viewers got accustomed to watching movies from other languages in their native forms, the demand, quality, and the sponsorships into Kannada movies has reduced considerably, in essence, depriving the local audience of good entertainment options and creative opportunities.

It was only in the millennial era that movies became more quality conscious and better. “It was in the 2000s that the narrative started getting contested,” explains Pavan Srinath. “For the first time, there was a growing public awareness that the language interests are not the same as the film industry’s.”

The full article can be read here.

Although, the idea behind this was to protect the local film industry, the unintended consequences were just the opposite. Pavan Srinath joins Amit Varma to discuss the Unseen effects of this ban on Kannada dubbing in this remarkable podcast.