Goan cine artists had much to be proud of when the national awards were announced. Kaajro a movie that highlighted class and caste discrimination practiced in society globally won the National award as the Best Konkani film for the year. It is a great achievement but is it something for the Goan film industry to crow about. Is it getting encouraged and what is being done to nurture talent? Like everything else, everyone had different viewpoints.
Bardroy Barreto the man behind Nachom-ia Kumpasar said it was important to remember that unless one created an eco system nothing was going to happen. He said “If you remember when we were ready with our movie, we were at the mercy of the existing theatres who had their rates. We had to be creative and look around and look at government venues. Maquinez Palace was certainly looked at with interest and selected. The guy from dolby came over and did his magic. It was a slightly long process but that way we were able to screen the movie. We paid them between Rs 30-40 lakhs and we made money. It started a movement that started from 2 movies to 7 to 15 and then 17.”
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
This success, however lead to more problems later that have stymied the industry. He said the ESG raised the rents of the hall making it not viable for any first timer to screen his movie. He said “You will not make a profit unless and until you have more than fifty percent occupied. It was he said a regressive step that has effectively kicked the industry in its knees”.
Then you had incidents like the projector at the Ravindra Bhavan in Margao which had gone kaput a couple of years ago and had not been sorted out as yet. That he said symbolised the state of affairs.
The ecosystem he said had to be more forthcoming revealing how tough it was to get people to audition for the movie that brought much fame to him and others associated with it. He said people would refuse to come for an audition or would walk away on learning it was a Konkani film.. Bardroy revealed that almost everyone who auditioned essayed a role in the film.
The man of the moment, the Creative Producer Rajesh Pednekar of Kaajro and earlier for K Sera Sera in 2016, was blunt when he said the state of the Konkani film industry was pathetic due to the lack of financial and government support. The funding which is due to the film fraternity, he said was pending for several years which was discouraging film makers from venturing into creating more films. With regards the infrastructure needed he said the state lacked infrastructure in terms of complete post production studios which are as per industry standards. This forced film makers to travel to neighbouring states who offer such facilities which however increased post-production work. Individuals, Rajesh said were unwilling to invest in creating this infrastructure as they were unsure of the demand. He said “Film makers and producers are unable to ramp up production of films due to lack of financial support. It’s a vicious circle and the film industry is caught up in it”. With regards to nurturing talent he said everything was being done at an individual level. Asked what needed to be done he said “The core requirement to create a film is adequate funding which has been pending from the state government for years together. If financial support which has been formulated and is due to film makers can be released each year, as per the schedule it will go a long way in supporting this art form. Quick disbursal of funds in critical. This will help in supporting and encouraging the Konkani film industry and help them to be atmanirbhar. New start-ups will spring up and create a job market within the state and the industry can flourish”.
Tapan Acharya actor and filmmaker said there was encouragement in terms of subsidies from the government. He however said there was a problem with the crowds watching the movies because of the poor timings allotted by the theatres. Tapan however felt the Goan diaspora were keen to watch Konkani films and the OTT platforms would help them connect with their culture. With regards film festivals in Goa, he said private parties organized film festivals in other states and that could be done here too but no one had done it as yet. With regards encouraging Goan talent he felt it was important for the ESG to organise more crash courses and vacation courses. These courses he said would help students understand and handle the camera better. Organizing or coordinating the film festival was important but these grass root efforts had to be conducted by them.
Sandesh Prabhudesai theatre and media personality felt IFFI had helped create some awareness of what was good and bad cinema. The master classes helped spread education he felt. He however said “The ESG was focused on entertaining people. That should not be its focus. Instead it should be renamed as the multimedia society of Goa. IFFI is organized by DFF and we look after the logistic and how to entertain the delegates. Cinema is a very powerful medium and we have to encourage students in Goa to develop an appreciation and encourage their talent. Cinema shows reality. We need a good professionally run film school and to get students, importantly Goan students. We have talent all over the state. They sing, dance in tiatrs, plays in churches, chapels everywhere. We need to tap them. This is our culture. Remember it was the Goans who gave the orchestra to the Hindi film industry”. He said this talent had to be tracked and trained from the primary section and then consolidated when they reached the senior and they had to then be trained in a music school or a film city. . He said it was important to wait before setting up a film city because otherwise it would be full of people from Mumbai. It was important to build the foundation and then the roof. This he said would benefit the film industry in the state.
Sanjay Shetye has the biggest studio in the state and is the man behind the Marathi film festival held every year in Goa. He said “The schemes are in place and the government is promoting film culture but it is not happening the way it should. Goan producers who have won awards have not been paid what is due to them. I won a best film award at the festival held in Kerala in a section that featured 20 foreign films for Sthalpuran which was in Marathi. I received a letter of commendation from the Maharashtra government but till date nothing has been forthcoming from Goa.”
He said it was quite obvious the people in the ESG did not know their job. He said he was running Goa’s only film academy out of love for film making. He said it was important to encourage young Goan filmmakers by helping them produce documentaries and he felt the government was doing its bit to encourage the film culture. He however admitted that much needed to be done.
Rajendra Talak, one of the doyens of Konkani cinema was blunt when he said it would be very difficult to develop a Konkani film industry because of the size of the population. He said “Someone should be willing to spend anywhere between Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 1 crore. Deals have been signed between the government and Inox to give local film producers a good time and even a good distribution of the earnings. I am not aware of those details. People over here have to understand a film is not a drama. You cannot show it anywhere. You cannot show it at Ravindra Bhavan. Tiatr cannot be made into a movie. The government gives 50% and the rest has to be invested by someone. The government gives a subsidy o Rs 700 for the first 100 shows. It is a separate issue it takes a very longtime to get the money.”
Speaking about encouraging Goan talent he said Goa could be a starting point but from there one would have to go to Mumbai. The population he said was very low and a producer would need a minimum of Rs 1 crore back which was very difficult. He ended by saying that to develop a good film culture in the state, good films would have to be made which would help people understand the joys of good cinema. Importantly he said these films needed to compete in the mainstream and not in Goa specific segments. It was he said a long journey ahead.
One can only hope all these dreams come true because a state that has given so many talented artists to the world of cinema can have a film industry it can call its own.
