Cauvery – where water burns…
There is a dilemma.
I am a Thamizhan in Bangalore .
Kannada comes to me fluently tha my friends think of me as a kannadiga.
I watch Vishnu’s apthamithra and Rajini’s Chadramukhi and enjoy them both in equal measures (not from a critical point though – I have serious disagreements with both and prefer Manichithrathazhu).
I feel at home in Udupi and Dharmasthala as I would in Madurai or Chidambaram.
I enjoy listening to “Naguva Nayana” as much as “Pothi vecha malligai mottu”.
I enjoy Shakar Nag’s Sangliana as much as I enjoy vijaykanth’s “Captain Prabhakaran”.
I love the vidhyarthi bhavan’s “Masala Dosa” as much as I relish the “Ven pongal” from hotel Rajarathnam in Tiruchi Bus Stand.
I enjoy the cool climes of Bangalore as much as I like the blistering heat of Thiruvannamalai.
My problem is – I feel at home in all these places while there are millions who hit the streets in protest and in anger because water of all things ubiquitious as it is cannot be shared by two governments responsibly and amicably.
I look back at those 80s and 70s with awe as to how we lived together and enjoying all the things of life without even thinking for a moment in which state we lived in? Where is our Puttanna Kanagal who trained the young Bharathiraja in films? Where is the K.B who made his ‘aval oru thodar kadhai’ again in Kannada with Kamalhasan for the sake of his karnataka fans? and where are the days when Sleepy Bangalore rocked to life for ilaiyaraja’s ‘Santhoshakke’ ? How could one deny the greatness that Saroja Devi achieved as MGR and Sivaji’s heroine. how could one forget the talented Kalyan Kumar who played the role of hunchback in “maniyosai” speaking chaste thamizh. And how can one forget the sweet melodious voice of P.B.Shrinivas who sang “Mayakkam Kalakkama” and made many of MSV’s songs immortal. How can we forget all this and speak words inciting violence against them?
So the latest episode in the burning water issue unfolded as the film fraternity of either sides of the river held a token fast (which has become a fashion off late) in Bangalore and Chennai. Emotions were naturally high in Chennai because of the recent attacks on theatres screening Thamizh films in Bangalore and there were moments of sanity as well as marked by speeches of Kamal Hassan who urged restraint in the face of violence aainst thamizhs and their art in Karnataka with a call for all to rediscover their feminine self (almost a message befitting a new age spiritual guru ) that will prevent further muddying of cauvery with blood of men who were nourished by the life giving water of the same river.
I dont know what happened in my Bangalore. My home is there, I earned my life there and found my peace there. Now it seems like Bangalore is my Paradise lost . All the shankar nags and Girish Karnads that I enjoyed seem to fade out in the smoke filled horizon where there is chaos and barbarism of regionalism and factionism. Terrible sounds of dischord boom and drown the song “india naadu en veedu” from the movie bharatha vilas where in a 10 minute song all states sung their pride heritage and their glorious days ahead in the “one india”(It featured Sanjeev Kumar and dharmendra too). It must raining tears in heaven as the spirits of Sivaji Ganesan and Dr.Raj kumar who stood for decades of friendship between the people of Thamizh Nadu and Karnataka, trying every avenue to foster and further the already rich cultural ties through their films.
I still remember the disappointment in the face of a Rajini fan in Bangalore when news broke out that release of his idol’s (many ways mine too) Shivaji might be delayed due to protests from KRV(Karnataka Rakshana Vedike). Now with the current turn of events, there is no light – only dark tunnel stretched ahead for thousands of fans of cinema, art and humanity like him.
The bonds that cinema had built for decades are now being broken slowly but surely. Undoing several years of ambassadorrship that many illiterate, but insightfult artists built silently without any agendas, a new age of barbarism arises in the streets of two states.
For millions of years the river has been flowing silently. Alas there is a miracle that she did not wish for – her waters are now burning and a fire has been started. There is no solace or warmth that this fire of regional hatred brings. Only tears of anger,sorrow and disappointment that fuel the fire on the cauvery to burn further spreading darkness…
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I feel sad sitting here in the US of A.
i’m guessing there’s a business angle to this. the kannada film industry has always felt under threat from hindi, telugu, tamizh, and hollywood movies.
is the problem in bangalore or all of karnataka?
@Dabba
The pronblem is all over Karnataka, but it is most acute in the Old Mysore Area, that is where most of the farmers totally depend on the Cauvery river. You dont have this kind of feeling much in the coastal Canara region. The people in that area, have totally distinct identity and culture. While the people of North Karnataka, do have this empathy with the Southern Karanataka people, there is always this feeling among them of being dominated by their more prosperous brethren down South.
Though JaiGanesh has said Dr.Rajkumar’s soul would be upset, the fact is that Dr.Rajkumar was in the forefront of the protests during the Cauvery agitation.
Regarding the Kannada movie industry, their biggest star, Ramesh Arvind is ironically a Tamilian. And quite a lot of their movies have been copied from Tamil hits. It is only of late, that Kannada movie is acquiring its own distinct identity with movies like Mungaru Male, Cyanide, Duniya breaking away from the formula.
Dude..someday i post a interview of Kamal hasan here..He told so many Kannada movies which inspired him to make Thevar magan,etc..etc..and i dont agree most of the Kannada movies r copied from Tamil movies…See Puttanna Kanagals Manasa Sarovara which released before Sadma or watever it s in Tamil..U can say Tamil film s completeley inspired from this movie..ter r lot others..if u want i ll write it in detail..but of late Kannada films went into gutter and copied almsot every films from every language..Mungaru male s not the best Kannada movie..
@Dabba
Also Kannada movie industry does have a genuine complaint in the way Kannada movies are exhibited in Bangalore. A Tamil, Telugu or Hindi movie gets multiple theaters for release, while Kannada movies struggle to find a release. I am not a Kannadiga, but i really feel bad about it.
Also things have not been helped, in the way non Kannadiga people in Bangalore, poke fun at Kannada movies. Granted many Kannada movies are not that good, but of late, there have been really good cinema comming from there, in fact much better than some of Bollywood’s overhyped blockbusters. This is something which again really irks many Kannadigas.
Dr.Rajkumar and Sivaji Ganesan were thick friends. Dr.Raj Kumar had been in the forefront of agitations rather due to compulsions and his fan clubs are being misused right now. Would be Interesting to know what Vishnuvardhan is thinking now.
Kollywood takes part in Hogenakkal fast
http://sify.com/movies/imagegallery/galleryDetail.php?hcategory=13733818&hgallery=14638175
thanks ratnakar.
i think kannada film industry is in the unique position of making good films. because people go and watch a telugu, hindi, tamizh or hollywood movies for entertainment, they have the oppportunity to make really good films without worrying about catering to a broad audience.
i wish girish karnad would make more movies. in b’lore, i rarely see any kannada movies getting a release. atleast, the protests are peaceful, and we don’t have people burning and attacking “the others”
Kannada film, shooting in DC “dec-march”
Directed By Shilpa Priyabharati Joshi.
“e-Preeti” GLOBAL COVERAGE
http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news-detail/40016/Bollywood-begins-filming-second-generation-Indian-American-movie-in-Washington.html
http://www.andhranews.net/Entertainment/2008/December/13-Bollywood-begins-filming-78710.asp
http://story.vancouverstar.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/dd8845aa60952db2/id/441543/cs/1/
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Bollywood+begins+filming+first+second+generation+Indian-American&aq=f&oq=
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/27/AR2008122700615.html?hpid=topnews
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-preeti
I don’t know if Ramesh Arvind is a Tamilian. It does not matter. There are many many Kannadigas in Tamil film industry. It also does not matter. Kannadigas watch all sorts of films of all languages in Karnataka. But do Tamilians and Telugas watch atlease very good Kannada movies in their state. While it is good that many people profess broadmindedness to kannadigas, it is a pity that the same is hardly receprocated. Tamilians are not considered narrow-minded when they raise hue and cry over Cauvery issue, when they obstruct any status to any other language than their own, when they black-mail for plum ministrial berths in union cabinet, but kannadigas fighting for their survival in their own state is painted as narrow minded.
Totally agree with mahabali