When the trailers of his latest kannada film, Krishnan Love Story (KLS), were beamed on local channels, besides the storyline, there was another element that made audiences sit up and take notice. A caption that read ‘Utthama chitragalu tayaaraguvudu utthama nirdeshakarinda matra’ (quality films can only be made by good directors), along with the trailer of the film, grabbed eyeballs. It also led to much discontent among a certain section in Gandhinagar, especially the producers. And the latest, we hear, is that Shashank, who’s directed KLS, has been asked to delete the captions from the promos.
“Not true. I haven’t been asked to remove it and I haven’t. Yes, the caption did create a controversy in the industry. Some producers took offence and asked how a movie could be made without them. But they’ve misunderstood the line,” says kannada film director Shashank.
The director explains that his intention was to tell audiences to encourage good directors so that they make quality films. “Because no matter how big a star, technicians, or the biggest of budgets may be, a film can’t be good if the director has no vision. In other languages, fans watch a film for the director and not an actor or actress. Directors are brands by themselves. If the director messes up a story, even an Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan can’t save it. I say this not out of over-confidence, but out of passion for good films,” he tells us.
And while he accepts that there was pressure on his producer to remove the caption, they retained it because of their belief in making quality films. “It’s a director’s moral responsibility to give audiences good films, so I’m retaining it. Of course, a film is teamwork. But it’s a director who makes it work,” says Shashank.
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