Television programmes corrupt youth: Gopalakrishnan

Bangalore, Jan 4 (UNI) Dada Saheb Palke Award winner and noted film maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan today said the youth in our country were getting corrupt due to the beaming of cheap programmes on television channels.

Speaking to newspersons here, he said ''today youth are brought up before television. They watch programmes with their parents that are low in quality. This is a bad education for the youth''.

Mr Gopalakrishnan said before the advent of TV medium, the audience at the movies always had a different kind of education that included literature, art and tradition. The movies were educative and the people wanted to lead a happy life by promoting harmony in the society, he added.

He said when television was introduced, it was felt that it would promote good cinema, but instead the reverse happened.

Television programmes, of late, have become unbearable, since quality was compromised to earn profit, he added.

The 64-year-old Adoor, who was one of the torch bearers of Indian creative cinema, said ''I was told by the artists today that they would not get time to learn the nuances of the dialogue but were only asked to repeat the rehearsed dialogues. This is the worst kind of film making and even dialogues were written badly, he added.

Mr Gopalakrishnan said Doordarshan officials would have no alternative but to look for cheap gimmicks in their programmes rather than quality-oriented ones, since they were asked to generate revenues on their own and not to rely on the Government funds any more.

He alleged that the 'Venture Capital' would enable the producers to dish out only bad films to ensure adequate return to the financiers.

The film-maker suggested starting Film Clubs in the Universities that would attract youngsters towards viewing good films.

UNI MSP RS SV HT1947