CHENNAI: It’s the fourth day and theatres across the State are yet to open their gates that were shut since Monday. Theatre owners took this drastic step in the wake of the State government’s decision to slap a tax of 30 per cent in addition to the 28 per cent GST (Goods and Service Tax), which came into effect on July 1. With more than 1,000 screens remaining closed, some influential film personalities believe that the issue will be settled amicably on Thursday, in time to accommodate the Friday releases.
At the 2.0 film’s 3D Digital meet on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owners’ Federation president Abirami Ramanathan said, “We cannot manage to share such a huge chunk of our profits as we won’t be able to recover it from the audience. The fact that the government is discussing with us makes it evident that they’re ready to help us. We’re confident of a positive result at the earliest.”
Ramanathan, who stated that the closures have resulted in a loss of about Rs 20 crore per day, added, “We welcome the GST bill as it’s a pan-India tax. We’re in talks with Chief Minister, State Finance Minister D Jayakumar, Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani, Commercial Taxes Minister KC Veeramani and Minister for Information and Publicity Kadambur Raju. They’re supportive of us but at the same time, are keen to make sure government doesn’t face any loss.”
Lyca Production’s Creative Head Raju Mahalingam said, “If the new rules come into play, all producers will be affected. In Switzerland, GST is a mere 8 per cent and in China, it’s a mere 5 per cent, whereas here, it’s 18 per cent. An additional entertainment tax would make it practically impossible to produce films.”
Producer C J Jayakumar of Cameo Films released a statement requesting the public to support the industry in getting the additional 30 per cent tax removed. He emphasized on the uncertainty of the business, and how producers struggle to keep their heads above the water and how they’ve made several moves to the State government to revoke the local tax.
Producer G Dhananjayan, whose Ivan Thanthiran ran for only three days because of the strike, wasn’t sure of the outcome. He said, “There hasn’t been any development and discussions are still happening. The government isn’t really ready to compromise, and it’s hard to predict how this will end.” He was upset about the curtailed runtime of Ivan Thanthiran, which released to generally positive reviews. “We’re depressed about it and are clueless about what to do,” he grieved.
The producer also added, “If the issue gets resolved, Tamil films that are scheduled to release this Friday, will be postponed by a week to give more time to those that released last week.” But films from other languages, such as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Mom, will release this Friday as per schedule if the strike is withdrawn in a day.