The Kannada film industry has completed 75 glorious years. From a time when the industry didn't even have a studio in Bangalore, to the city becoming the hub of animation for Hollywood projects, there's been a sea change. But the industry still needs to ramp up in terms of production value and budgets to benefit from the technology and solutions at home.

Last year has been billed as one of the most disastrous years in the history of Sandalwood. This year has managed to see a bare-minimum success rate of just about one per cent. The films have not done well, with audiences running away from the film within the second week of its release. The film-makers, artistes and technicians are all worried that this trend, if it continues for a while longer, can only spell disaster.

This has led to financiers and film-makers taking the safest path available, opting to remake classics. From the current estimates, around 70 per cent of the films that are in production are either out-and-out remakes or 'inspired' stories. The film-makers have no choice as the people with the funds prefer not to be adventurous, but not all remakes have become hits either.

The few original films that have managed to make their mark in recent times, like Amruthadhaare, Mungaaru Male, Duniya and Milana, have been christened as the landmark films of our age. But instead of taking inspiration from original concepts that have wowed the audiences, film-makers have chosen to copy the themes and make similar films. For example, an underworld inspired Duniya resulted in many cheap imitations, much like the fake Louis Vuittons at the National Market, the only difference is that these didn't sell.

The scene does look dismal, with the apex body of Sandalwood, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce being more interested in reprimanding film-makers having English titles rather than fighting for a film city in the state, or voicing their demands for the implementation of the Goonda Act in the state to curb film piracy. The chamber only does a rally once in a while, to show that it is acting, but doesn't follow up on the issue.

The result could only mean that film-makers and artistes are looking for greener pastures across the fence, in the Tamil and Telugu film industries, and some clever ones, like Deepika Padukone, may choose to overlook their Sandalwood stints. If the film stars, the chamber, and all those that call the Kannada film industry their own, don't stand by each other and fight for better infrastructure, budgets and marketing techniques, the glorious 75 years could be just a memory.

But there is hope. In the past three years, there have been films that have released across the globe simultaneously as they hit screens in Gandhinagar. This year has also seen two films ePreeti and Melbourne Nalli 42 Ghante being the first international Kannada productions, while the former is completely set in America, the latter is being financed by NRI Australians. Girish Kasaravalli's Gulabi Talkies has earned a special distinction becoming the only film to be screened at all the international film festivals in India. And we've had as many as five women directors releasing films in the past two years. The heroes are getting paid in crores and song sequences now cost nearly a crore too. While in hindsight it may seem the industry has come a long way, looking ahead, the journey seems to have just begun.