I've broken the Bengaluru jinx: Jaya

Veteran Bollywood actor Jaya Bachchan is happy that she's finally broken the Bengaluru jinx. A jinx?! The Rajya Sabha MP , in Bengaluru to inaugurate the eighth edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes), told the audience the city hasn't been particularly kind to the Bachchans.
“With the inauguration of this wonderful event, I can now finally say the jinx is broken.Bengaluru has always been jinxed for my family, be it for shooting or the Miss World event, but I'm happy it's broken,“ she said.
The first family of Bollywood has run into misfortune in the city: with the near-death experience of Amitabh Bachchan after meeting with an accident while shooting for Coolie, and the financially disastrous decision of ABCL to host Miss World here, the family had termed Bengaluru a jinxed city .
Jaya said she would now coax her husband to come to Bengaluru to shoot a movie, and break his jinx too.
Earlier, during her address, she appealed to chief minister Siddaramaiah not to interfere in the film industry and let artistes function independently . “Considering the encouragement and help you are giving the film industry, I urge you to restrict it to this and not interfere in the functioning of the artistes. Because only when they are independent and away from influences, can the freedom of expression generate good movies,“ she said.
Jaya appealed to her colleagues in Bollywood to shoot in Bengaluru and Karnataka, and increase revenue for a city which is giving a lot to the industry .
She lauded Siddaramaiah for his keen interest in the growth of the film industry, and said barring West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, no other chief minister had shown this level of commitment to the movie industry .
Siddaramaiah called upon the Sandalwood film fraternity to come up with more movies which have a message for society . “Our industry has produced great movies when there was limited support by technology. Today, there is no dearth of funds or technology in the market. Neither is there a dearth of talent. So film makers should try to make movies with a message. Let there be a break from movies with bloodshed and vulgarity,“ he added.
Replying to her plea not to interfere in the freedom of expression, Siddaramaiah said he and his government were always for the freedom of expression. “We understand there can be no art without freedom,“ he added.
Thithi, the inaugural award-winning Kannada film, was screened here as well as in Mysuru. The film, made last year, is a dramatic comedy extensively shot in a tiny village in Mandya district, and has non-professional actors in the lead roles.
Directed by Bengaluru-based director Raam Reddy and co-written by Ere Gowda from Mandya district, it won two awards at the Locarno International Film Festival.
From January 29 to February 4, over 500 movies will be screened in Mysuru and Bengaluru.