KOCHI: The office-bearers of the Kerala Film Chamber (KFC) have requested the artists who are members of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) not to associate with the award nites and stage shows organised by television channels.Meanwhile, the office-bearers of AMMA have totally dismissed the request. The meeting convened by the representatives of both the organisations here the other day ended with both the parties failing to reach a consensus in this regard.
It is learned that in the nearly two-hour long meeting, the representatives of AMMA and KFC engaged in a war of words, with the former unanimously declining the demand. The office-bearers of the Film Chamber asked the artists to stay away from award nites for the next three years. Earlier, they had handed over an official letter to AMMA raising the same demand. They made it clear that the film apex body will not screen the movies of those actors who reject its demand.
The KFC members also cited the stringent rules the channels have put forth in buying satellite rights of movies. Earlier, they used to pay the amount in advance. Now, most of the channels are interested in buying the movies only after assessing its box-office performance. They are also not giving the amount in advance and prefer post-release buying of satellite rights. The KFC members said only 40 films have got the satellite rights this year, so far. The demand was put forth by the KFC as a protest against the channels.
The Chamber representatives said there was a contract earlier, which clearly stated that artistes were not allowed to appear on television shows or programmes. However, after AMMA's intervention, the contract was relaxed. However, the current contract states that mainstream artistes must stay away from such programmes. Though, small-time artistes can continue their association with the small screen.
"Malayalam still remains a star-controlled industry. So we do not think the Chamber's demand is going to be met," according to sources within the Producers' Association. More discussions in this regard will be held in the coming days, added the office-bearers of KFC.