KOCHI: The Malayalam film industry appears to be headed for a vertical split with producer Antony Perumbavoor on Thursday coming out against the proposed move to stop production and release of movies by a section of his fellow producers, exhibitors and distributors, who blamed the hefty pay to actors and technicians for the crisis the industry finds itself in.
Denouncing the proposed strike from June 1, Antony, of Ashirvad Films, said it would affect the livelihood of thousands of families and would prove counter-productive.
In a Facebook post, Antony, who’s the producer of the much-anticipated L2: Empuraan that hits theatres on March 27, said, “calling for a strike is not the right step.”
Actor Prithviraj, the director of L2:Empuraan, rallied behind Antony, sharing his FB post. Actors Aju Varghese and Unni Mukundan also shared the post, indicating growing support from among the actor community for the views expressed by Antony.
G Suresh Kumar, veteran film producer and vice-president of Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) told reporters on February 6 that the Malayalam film industry was in deep crisis due to double-taxation, huge remuneration of actors, technicians and directors.
‘Plan to proceed with stir made during KFPA meet’
He said the claims of Rs 100-crore collections by several films were not true and termed them as ‘fudged box-office’ reports.
Responding to Antony’s FB post, Suresh told TNIE that the decision to proceed with the strike was made during the KFPA meeting. “The producers’ association discussed the deep crisis that the industry is in. It was discussed in the executive committee as well. As Anto Joseph (KFPA president) was on leave, I announced it. Antony was not aware of these issues as he was not attending the association meetings. Also, representatives of all these associations were present when I announced it,” he said.
Suresh asserted that the association will proceed with the plan to hold a protest. “A section of producers are responding as they are now forced to reveal the box office collection of films released,” he added.
By evening, Suresh received support from other producers. B Rakesh, secretary of KFPA, in a statement, said the association wrote a letter to the actors’ forum AMMA in November 2024 requesting its intervention in controlling the remuneration of the actors and curbing other unnecessary expenses. However, since AMMA was having only an ad hoc committee, a decision had to be taken in the general body meeting. “Therefore, a meeting of other film bodies was held to discuss the issue,” said Rakesh, who produced films such as Meri Awaaz Suno (2021) and Pullikkaran Staraa (2017).
The decision to go on an indefinite strike was taken in a meeting by the KFPA, the Kerala Film Distributors Association, the Film Employees Federation of Kerala, and the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala.
