KOCHI: The rift between the film producers and actors in Malayalam cinema became wider as the associations differed on the indefinite cinema strike announced by the Kerala Film Producers Association (KFPA) on June 1.
The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), which met in Kochi, came out openly against the cinema strike, saying a complete shutdown of the industry will affect the livelihood of hundreds of people, even while it promised to discuss the remuneration of the actors at its meeting in June.
The producers had blamed the high remuneration of the actors as one of the reasons for the huge losses in Mollywood.
The film bodies, including the KFPA, the Kerala Film Distributors Association, the Film Employees Federation of Kerala, and the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala, announced an indefinite cinema strike after a joint meeting on February 6.
Addressing the media, G. Sureshkumar, the vice president of KFPA, said that the association will go ahead with the proposed strike from June 1.
"We will go ahead with the indefinite strike. Our protest is not against the actors. The protest is against the government policies, demanding a relaxation in entertainment tax," he said, adding that the theatres in the state are struggling and government intervention is the need of the hour.
Meanwhile, AMMA will not back the strike.
"The AMMA has decided not to support the cinema strike announced by the KFPA. The unnecessary strike will not only cause financial loss to the industry but will also affect the livelihood of people working in the industry," said the official statement released by the AMMA ad hoc committee on Monday.
Sureshkumar further stated that the Facebook post by producer Antony Perumbavoor is untrue and that the KFPA will talk with AMMA about reducing the actors' remuneration.
"What is said in Antony's Facebook post is against the truth. The decision to hold a protest was made in the joint meeting of the film bodies," he added.
AMMA, in its statement, also said that the artists' association will discuss and decide on the reduction of actors' remuneration in the general body meeting to be held in June.
"The association is willing to cooperate with any organisation or film body that works to uplift the Malayalam film industry," it said.
Actors Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Tovino Thomas, Basil Joseph, Bindu Panikar, Joju George, and others attended the meeting.
