When Jaggesh tried to mimic a dog abroad
Actor Jaggesh talks about his recent trip to Switzrland, his new film and his campaign to have a cap on ticket prices in Karnataka
After you raised the issue ofticket prices in multiplexes in the Legislature, it has become a hot topic again.
This is not a new issue. But unless there is tremendous pressure from the public, nothing will change. I believe multiplexes are literally squeezing the audiences with their ticket rates. If Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh can have a cap on ticket prices, why not Karnataka? The debate on the topic in the Legislative Council was pro-audience. I do not buy the argument that multiplex rates have to be so high to maintain standards. Our ownRockline Venkatesh has started a multiplex and ticket prices are reasonable. Why can’t it be the same everywhere?
Kannada films alone?
Only seven per cent of film audience in the state watches Kannada films. There are only about 210theatres in Karnataka that screen Kannada films which are fewer than the number of Assembly constituencies. My brother (Komal), who was running four theatres as exhibitor, has given up two. Audiences who watched films in multiplexes expect the same standard in single-screen theatres as well. So multiplexes are the way forward. Two recent Kannada films; Oggarane and Drishya, have collected more money at multiplexes than single screens. Their collections would have been doubled in multiplexes if the ticket prices were reasonable. The same multiplexes cannot charge more than Rs 100 in TN and Rs 120 in AP. We need a similar cap on prices here as well.
Talking about your films, you have announcedMelkote Manja , which you will be directing...
Theshooting will start on August 1. We had a simple muharat a few days ago. It is a comedy-thriller. Manja is a resident of Melukote whose father is a school teacher. Manja, instead of taking the conservative advice of his father, ventures into business without having any knowledge about it. Soon he is on the run from creditors. He meets the heroine who is on the run from the underworld. How their lives get entangled and the comic situations become a thriller is narrated in the film.
How tough is to juggle your political and film lifes?
As an actor, my biggest advantage is that people do not consider me as the member of a particularpolitical party . Though I belong to the BJP, I have friends in every party. So I can bank on help from those in power from any party. It is my 17th year in politics and I am now comfortable handling both films and politics. I am only an MLC and I don’t have the power to do every work people demand. I can only recommend work for Rs 1.5 crore. This I distribute among works in various villages and places of my constituency.
Time could be an issue...
It is not always easy. Most times, I end up with migraine. When there is work in politics, I request my film-makers to give me enough break. On weekends, I am at Mayasandra inspecting development works. As I said, since I have friends in the ruling party too, it helps. DK Shivakumar is my friend. So I could request him to speed up the process of installing 20 new transformers which had been pending for years.
You seem to have had a great time shooting for Vaastu Prakara in Switzerland…
My wife travelled with me and you should have seen the photo of her paragliding. I did not dare do it as I am averse to taking such risks.
Your Switzerland experience.
As a politician, I have come back impressed with the people there. In my opinion, any people who have traffic sense will have every other civic sense. My wife, with a guidebook in hand, travelled in Switzerland all alone without a single incident of harassment. Our Swiss manager stopped us from shooting on the road after 10 pm. He reasoned that the lights will affect motorists. In India, we will even put up lights on an oncoming train on the tracks. In another incident, I sneezed loudly and two Swiss people on the footpath jumped up in horror. On another occasion, I tried to mimic a dog and the owner told me, “Please don’t disturb the dog. He is in a good mood.” In yet another incident, Bhat had placed the camera on a railway track. An oncoming train stopped and the driver asked, ‘Any problem?’ It was we who created the the problem really. There are so many things we have to learn from them; good behaviour, good civic sense, cleanliness....
After you raised the issue of
This is not a new issue. But unless there is tremendous pressure from the public, nothing will change. I believe multiplexes are literally squeezing the audiences with their ticket rates. If Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh can have a cap on ticket prices, why not Karnataka? The debate on the topic in the Legislative Council was pro-audience. I do not buy the argument that multiplex rates have to be so high to maintain standards. Our own
Ticket prices are the same for all language films. Will it be particularly beneficial to
Only seven per cent of film audience in the state watches Kannada films. There are only about 210
Talking about your films, you have announced
The
How tough is to juggle your political and film lifes?
As an actor, my biggest advantage is that people do not consider me as the member of a particular
Time could be an issue...
It is not always easy. Most times, I end up with migraine. When there is work in politics, I request my film-makers to give me enough break. On weekends, I am at Mayasandra inspecting development works. As I said, since I have friends in the ruling party too, it helps. DK Shivakumar is my friend. So I could request him to speed up the process of installing 20 new transformers which had been pending for years.
You seem to have had a great time shooting for Vaastu Prakara in Switzerland…
My wife travelled with me and you should have seen the photo of her paragliding. I did not dare do it as I am averse to taking such risks.
Your Switzerland experience.
As a politician, I have come back impressed with the people there. In my opinion, any people who have traffic sense will have every other civic sense. My wife, with a guidebook in hand, travelled in Switzerland all alone without a single incident of harassment. Our Swiss manager stopped us from shooting on the road after 10 pm. He reasoned that the lights will affect motorists. In India, we will even put up lights on an oncoming train on the tracks. In another incident, I sneezed loudly and two Swiss people on the footpath jumped up in horror. On another occasion, I tried to mimic a dog and the owner told me, “Please don’t disturb the dog. He is in a good mood.” In yet another incident, Bhat had placed the camera on a railway track. An oncoming train stopped and the driver asked, ‘Any problem?’ It was we who created the the problem really. There are so many things we have to learn from them; good behaviour, good civic sense, cleanliness....
