Pedro BIFFes snub: Natesh Hegde lashes out against KCA President Suneel Puranik; stop policing cinema, he says

Suneel Puranik, the Chairman of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, which organizes BIFFes, pooh-poohed the controversy over Pedro’s non-selection, claiming it didn’t make it to the Indian Panorama at IFFI either.

Natesh Hegde (left) takes on Suneel Puranik (right) over the Pedro BIFFes snub

The exclusion of debutant filmmaker Natesh Hegde’s widely acclaimed Pedro from the upcoming Bengaluru International Film Festival is steadily snowballing into a major controversy. One of the most feted Kannada films to have done the global festival circuit lately, Pedro has been snubbed by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy for screening at its physical festival this year.

Expressing anguish over the concerted effort to keep the film away from audiences, actor-filmmaker Rishab Shetty had released a statement that despite the team’s best efforts, the film could not be brought to cinephiles at an event like BIFFes. While Rishab did not pointedly mention anyone’s involvement, referring only to some people working to prevent Pedro’s screening, Natesh has gone one step ahead and alleged that KCA President Suneel Puranik was indulging in policing.

In response to media reports about the film’s exclusion, in which Suneel was quoted as saying that he failed to understand why there is controversy only about one film, which didn’t make it to the Indian Panorma at IFFI either, Natesh wrote, “Dear Suneel Puranik, The people of the city are much more matured than what you think of them. You are nobody to police what filmmaker should do in his films. Don't take shelter in the name of IFFI. people can imagine what has happened there. Also for your notice we received award in film bazaar which comes under NFDC. You can't understand why there is so much stress about one film as you stated in the article. That's called Cinephila. Love for cinema.” Incidentally, Suneel had also said that the film handles a religiously sensitive subject, prompting many to say that Pedro’s exclusion was politically motivated.

In the film, Pedro, played by Natesh’s father Gopal Hegde, inadvertently shoots a cow, owing to which he is ostracized from his village. This, however, is only of the sub-plots of the film. Pedro is currently a part of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, but does not have a screening option at the online fest.

Share