Kannada film industry's hugely respected technician and Veteran Makeup artist Ramakrishna who has worked with legendary artists like Kamala Hassan, Ambareesh and presently working with Upendra has been victimised by the Okkoota also known as Karnataka Film Workers Federation headed by Ashok.
On Sunday, the 11th November, Makeup artist Ramakrishna along with Senior Wig maker Nageshwara Rao (He has also produced Kannada films) along with Nagaraj have been targeted by the Okkoota headed by its President Ashok who is running the organisation with his autocratic and dictatorial attitude.
Without creating any document or undertaking an organisational action, Ashok has told Ramakrishna, Nageshwara Rao and Nagaraj that from December 1 this year the Okkoota members will not co-operate to work in films they are associated with as technicians. This would virtually mean banning them from their work in the future. This also means that Ashok is trying to circumvent the legal options for Ramakrishna and others who have been targeted for humiliation and punishment.
In its monthly second Sunday meeting held in Okkoota office, Ramakrishna and others have been punished for what they have done in 2001 by trying to mobilise the support to form an alternative organisation for skilled technicians which was to have been floated by National award winning director S.V.Rajendra Singh Babu. But the rival organisation became a non starter and then all the technicians who had worked for it continued their membership with Okkoota and remained loyal to the organisation. Ostensibly for this reason Make Up Ramakrishna and other senior members have been focused for disciplinary action by Okkoota.
Ramakrishna has also challenged the elections to the Makeup artists organisation held in the year 2011 which was rigged. The matter is now in court and he has made the election officer Bhojaraj, another senior member of Okkoota who is a supporter of Ashok as a respondent in the case. Even this action of Ramakrishna has not gone well with Ashok and his cronies in Okkoota.
Sources from Okkoota told Chitraloka Mega Portal that some of the senior technicians belonging to various federations were shocked at this pronouncement made by Ashok and termed the decision as a revengeful attitude by him. They also said that the senior technicians should not be humiliated like such actions only because of some events that happened more than a decade ago. However they do not want to be quoted as they also fear persecution by Ashok who is running the organisation like Hitler and Mussaloni who ran Germany and Italy before the second world war.
Okkoota President Ashok clearly knows that if he creates any document banning the three senior technicians, it would not stand the test of law. Without giving an opportunity to the three people targeted to defend themselves, Ashok has tried to crush the dissidence against him by creating a fear psychosis in the minds of others also who have been unhappy with his autocratic functioning of the organisation.
If Ashok had really tried to democratise the organisation, then he would have preferred an action as per the procedure in the bylaws of the organisation. But in his usual way, he has tried to be dictatorial and taking revenge on people who were ranged against him earlier.
