Ragini Dwivedi (Image: Facebook)
The shocking details of drug abuse among the actors have practically divided the struggling celluloid world. Some say it is a revenge to paint the entire field with the same brush, while others demand a total cleaning of the big screen.
- CNN-News18 Bangalore
- Last update: September 5, 2020 4:53 PM IST
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Kannada cinema faces an existential crisis, a crisis of another kind. Ongoing police raids on movie stars to blow up the drug trade operating in the state and the arrest of actor Ragini Dwivedi have shocked the film industry, which is already in its worst phase due to the coronavirus pandemic. The shocking details of the drug abuse between the actors have practically divided the struggling celluloid world. Some say it is a revenge to paint the entire field with the same brush, while others demand a total cleaning of the big screen.
85-year-old Kannada cinema was very conservative two decades ago. Globalization, the rise of satellite TV, and Bengaluru’s growth to become a megapolis changed that and made the industry vulnerable to outside influence.
Meanwhile, concerned about the effect of negative publicity on Karnataka’s brand image due to the ongoing raids, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa warned the police to exercise restraint. According to a senior police officer, Yediyurappa does not want Karnataka to go the way of Punjab.
After a six-month lockdown and the near collapse of the film industry, some had resumed filming just a month ago, raising some hope. The raids and arrests have been a severe blow to many who have nothing to do with the threat of drugs.
It all started last week when a Narcotics section of the Bengaluru Police raided an apartment to blow up a drug trade. They arrested three people, including an alleged drug dealer identified as D Anika.
According to the police, she spilled the beans on the nexus between drugs and cinema. The 24/7 TV news coverage you have garnered during the current coronavirus-dominated news cycle appears to have forced the police to go after everyone allegedly linked to the cartels.
In the last week, the police arrested Dwivedi; her friend Ravishankar; Rahul, friend of another actor Sanjana Galrani; a local BJP worker, Karthik Raju; and Delhi-based rave party organizer Viren Khanna in connection with the case.
The list is likely to grow as detectives have retrieved many details from those arrested about the extent of the drug threat plaguing the industry. Many more stars are likely to be summoned for questioning based on these explosive documents. Some of them can even be arrested.
Canarian filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh, currently at the BJP, and self-proclaimed filmmaker Prashant Sambargi have come out to the public alleging large-scale drug abuse in the celluloid world. His remarks have angered a larger section of the Kannada cinema for trying to paint the entire industry with the same brush.
Veteran film producer Sandesh Nagaraj criticized the hyper-advertising. “There may be some actors linked to drug abuse. Their number is only 1%. Therefore, marking the entire industry as bad is dangerous. I ask the main stars to come out and defend the innocent, ”he said.
Nagaraj said that after the death of actor Rajkumar and two other superstars, Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh, Kannada cinema is like a ship adrift on the sea.
Some argue that actors from outside Karnataka in the past two decades have destroyed the industry’s reputation by engaging in all manner of immoral, unethical and illegal activities, leading the film world to some ruin.
The city police who have decided to do everything possible to eradicate the threat of drugs also faces a dilemma. Yediyurappa and many others are concerned about the consequences. “He’s worried, because he doesn’t want the whole state to get a bad name. The police must exercise caution before putting on a great show. Karnataka is certainly not another Punjab. The media must also show responsibility and restraint, ”said a person close to Yediyurappa.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress happily shares photos and videos of Dwivedi with Yediyurappa’s youngest son BY Vijayendra, who is also the state vice president of the BJP. Dwivedi was a star activist for the ruling BJP in last year’s by-elections of the Assembly.
Despite the CM’s instructions to his party colleagues not to comment on the ongoing raids, many of them are fighting each other to demand strict action against the threat of drugs. Surprisingly, the low-key Interior Minister Basavaraj S Bommai has suddenly become hyperactive, directing the police investigation, which has generated much speculation in political circles.
Will Kannada cinema emerge from this crisis or will it sink further into the abyss?
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