Mangaluru : Film director P. Seshadri said on Thursday that he was planning to make a film on Jnanpith award winner late Kota Shivaram Karanth’s novel ‘Mookajjiya Kanasugalu’.

Karanth had received the Jnanpith award for this novel.

Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of a three-day film festival on his films, organised by Rangabhumi organization here, Mr. Sheshadri said that the film was in its initial stage of planning.

He had obtained the rights and was presently writing the screenplay for it.

To a query, he said that his 10th film ‘Beti’ based on Kannada writer Bolwar Mahmad Kunhi’s work, shot in Udupi and Tirthahalli in Shivamogga district, would be released next month.

This film focuses on gender justice and importance of girl child. “The film will be first released in Bengaluru and then we will think about releasing it in other places,” he said.

He said that it was essential that the State government took more steps to promote good Kannada films.

Presently, the State government was giving a subsidy of R 10 lakh to 125 Kannada films. Instead the government could select lesser Kannada films and give them more subsidy as this would help in improving their quality.

He said that the government had taken the right step by directing the multiplexes to screen Kannada films during the prime time in the State.

On parallel cinema not getting much public response compared to popular cinema, he said that cinema was basically an art and it should make one ask questions.

Cinema began as an art and then became an entertainment. But it was also the job of cinema not only to entertain but also to enlighten. Parallel films were doing well in West Bengal, Kerala and Maharashtra.

“In Kerala, they have developed such an audience. There are over 300 film societies in Kerala. We need to hold more film festivals and have more film societies in our State,” he said.

Bengaluru and Karnataka faced a lot of pressure from films of other languages. People in the State should also go to see Kannada films, Mr. Sheshadri said.