Budget cut could hit quality of Soudha documentary films

The Legislature Secretariat is keeping its fingers crossed on how documentary films commissioned for the Vidhana Soudha diamond jubilee celebrations on October 25 will turn out after it was forced to cut down the expenditure.

Three documentary films — Shasanasabhe Nadedubanda Daari (Journey of the Legislature) by T N Seetharam, Vidhanasabha Kattada (The Legislative Assembly Building) by Girish Kasaravalli and 3D Virtual Reality Video by Master Kishan — will be screened at the Vidhana Soudha banquet hall, which can seat 1,000 persons, as part of the day-long celebration.

The diamond jubilee was originally planned with a budget of Rs 26.87 crore.

Following an uproar over “lavish” spending, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah intervened and suggested scaling it down to Rs 10 crore.

Cut in budget

Accordingly, the budget for Seetharam’s film was cut from Rs 1.58 crore to Rs 50 lakh, Kasaravalli’s from Rs 1 crore to Rs 30 lakh and Kishan’s from Rs 1.02 crore to Rs 40 lakh.

“The Legislature Secretariat was the producer and the filmmakers were asked to make the films in a certain way. Then, our budget was cut. Now, we’ll know the quality of the films only when they are screened,” a senior Secretariat officer said.

‘Unedited version’

“Seetharam, for instance, has informed us that he will give us an unedited version of the film,” the officer added. Recently, Seetharam took to social media to point out that capturing 136 years of the state legislature’s history was no easy task.

The budget cut has also meant that the Vidhana Soudha will be decorated with flowers sourced locally. “Our plan was to get imported flowers that would last one whole week,” the official said.

However, the Secretariat has managed to squeeze in a visual treat through 3D mapping where the state government’s achievements will be projected on Vidhana Soudha’s pillars to make it look interactive.

This will be done during music director Hamsalekha’s concert.