THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) banned new movie releases at Aries Plex — a popular movie ctheatre in the Capital —prompting the theatre management to shut it down. A row erupted between KFPA members and theatre management over the remarks made by one of the theatre’s employees about the movie 'Star', one of the first Malayalam movies to release since cinema houses reopened last Wednesday.
The founder-chairman and CEO of Aries Group of Companies said they are putting up the theatre complex for sale. He said the management suffered a huge loss and alleged that people with hidden agenda were trying to sabotage the theatre’s operations.
“We are one of the best theatres in the country. Recently, Anto Joseph contacted me and complained about the remarks made by one of our employees about the movie ‘Star’. He said they are going to take action. The producer and director of the movie are our friends and I promoted the movie through my social media pages. I spoke to both of them and they have no problem with us. However, the producers’ association decided not to release any Malayalam movies in our theatre,” said Sohan.
“I received a letter from Anto Joseph demanding action against the employee. We immediately let him go and promised to hold a discussion when I come to Kerala next month. But they went on to ban new releases at Aries plex. We have been facing around `25 - `30 lakh loss monthly during the lockdown. It’s not practical for us to run the theatre complex with Hollywood movies alone. The management is planning to shut down the complex,” said Sohan. He said they might convert it into a convention centre or marriage hall.
However, the producers’ association members claimed that they didn’t get a proper reply from the theatre’s management. “Before the release of the movie Star, the manager of the theatre complex claimed it was a flop. Sohan’s response to this was not convincing,” said B Rakesh, treasurer, KFPA.