Mysuru: The Indian affair between politics and films is a very old one. Now with the election season on, Bollywood is ready to capitalise on the million emotions the country is experiencing, especially following the tension between India and Pakistan.
Hence, the film-makers are making a beeline to the Film Chambers to register film titles. Not to be left behind is our own Sandalwood film-makers who are also rushing to the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to register film titles.
All this started in Karnataka when Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy uttered a sentence during the launch of the music album for ‘Jaguar’ in which his son Nikhil was making a debut. The proud father called out to his son “Nikhil ello kantha illa, ellidyappa?” (Nikhil you can’t be seen, where are you?). This scene unfolded three years ago when Kumaraswamy called out from the stage and his son replied that he was among the people who loved his father and grandfather. Both the father-son then did not imagine that three years down the line, they would be involved in a heated political battle where the latter would be contesting against a fierce opponent like Sumalatha Ambarish in Mandya, the hotbed of politics.
A few of the film-makers realising that they could make filmy capital out of it started queuing up to register films titled “Nikhil Ellidyappa” before the KFCC.
However, the KFCC has thrown cold water on their plans by declining permission and asking them to wait till elections are over. No doubt Nikhil Ellidyappa tops the list of most sought after title names, but other phrases which were used during this poll season are also in demand like Jodethu (a pair of oxen) a word uttered by actor Darshan, referring to him and actor Yash, campaigning for Mandya independent candidate Sumalatha, as well as Kallethu (these oxen are thieves). This was uttered by the CM in Mandya which have also attracted the film-makers’ attention.
Meanwhile, after the box office success of Uri: The Surgical Strike, at least five production houses have hurried to the Indian Motion Pictures Association Office in Mumbai to register titles like From Pulwama to Abhinandan, Balakot, Surgical Strikes 2.0, Pulwama Attacks and Hindustan Hamara Hai.
It may be recalled, the Congress had bought the rights to “Jai Ho…” the Oscar-winning song from “Slumdog Millionaire” for its poll campaign in 2009.
This post was published on April 9, 2019 7:58 pm