Nine years later, Hampi film sinks without trace

It has been nine years since this documentary filmmaker handed over his two films, Whispering Stones and Rhythm of Silence, which showcased the history and the beauty of the tourism centre Hampi, to the tourism department to lure tourists to visit the world heritage site. “I haven’t watched my films since then and they haven’t paid me the agreed  amount,” said BN Chandra Kanth, renowned documentary film maker.

He signed an “agreement” with the Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) and the Karnataka State Tourism Department in March 1999 with an impression that the 2-hour long films will be showcased in the theatres at Kamalapur, the entrance of Hampi, to help the tourists select the desired destinations. JLR agreed to Rs13 lakh for him. “The films were not screened anywhere even for the Hampi Utsav,”he alleged.

Five years later, in 2004, he wrote a letter to the JLR asking them to renew the contract. There was no response. He sent another letter in 2008. This time they replied and asked him to submit all documents related to the deal as they didn’t have any records. Chandrakanth also wrote a letter to the then tourism minister Janardhan Reddy detailing the issue. “I recently visited the JLR office. The MD told me that the films belonged to them for 60 years as per the agreement. But no tenure was mentioned in the contract. They haven’t paid me since 2004 ,” he said.

As per the Copyright Act 1957, no creative works can be purchased or sold. But the copyrights of the work can be sold to another person after signing a contract. And according to the clause 19(A) of the act, if the agreement period is not stated in the contract, it shall deemed to be five years from the date of signing the it. 

As his communications with the JLR authorities went vain, he filed a petition in Lokayuta on May 11, 2009. “We have registered the complaint and asked the JLR to respond to it in couple of days. After receiving their response, we will conduct an inquiry on the issue,’’ said Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde.

Reacting to the allegations of Chandrakath, JLR MD, ND Tiwari said, ``He had sold all the rights to us and we are the owners of the film for 60 years. If he had to renew the contract he should have done it in 2004. Inquiry is on and we are tracing the cassettes and documents.’’