The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) and the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce (TSFCC) have unanimously moved a proposal to shut down theatres and film screenings and halt shooting in the Telugu States from March 2018, to protest against the prices levied by Digital Service Providers.
Pratani Rama Krishna Goud, chairman of TSFCC, stated that the protests will be launched should the Digital Service Providers like Qube, UFO, PXD and Scrabble fail to bring down their digital projection charges.
“We have been escalating this issue for a long time and I even fasted for seven days once. We have also raised our concern with the DSPs concerned. They are charging `13,000 per week for digital projection and the deposit is even higher for small films.
As a result, even after the censor formalities, over 300 films are still struggling to see the light of day. If the DSPs don’t budge, we will go ahead with our protest. The distributors and exhibitors too have assured full support. If the situation doesn’t change before March, we will intensify our protests,” he said.
The statement has caused panic in the fraternity as several big-budget Telugu films like Ram Charan’s Rangasthalam, Mahesh Babu-starrer Bharath Ane Nenu, Allu Arjun’s Naa Peru Surya - Naa Illu India are all slated to hit the screens around the time of the planned protests.