With no solution arrived at in the standoff between representatives of the South film industries and the Digital Service Providers (DSPs) following the last round of discussions that happened in Bangalore on February 23, the producers’ strike begins in earnest on Friday, with no new Tamil films scheduled for release in theatres across Tamil Nadu, save one. The makers of the lone exception, Dharavi, had apparently paid for its theatrical run post certification. While theatres will be completely shut down in the Telugu states, resulting in no films — new or old — getting screened, the situation in Tamil Nadu is different. New English and Hindi films will get released alongside Tamil films already running.
Amid rumours of TN theatres shutting down in support of their Telugu counterparts, SPI Cinemas confirmed that, at the time of going to print, all English and Hindi films would be released as scheduled and that there would be no question of shows being cancelled, or theatres downing shutters.
Abirami Ramanathan, president of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners and Distributors Association, says, “Over 900 theatres in Tamil Nadu will remain open tomorrow and we will screen whatever films are given to us.” Ask him why there is no shutdown, and he replies, “They are not really going on a strike. If they are, they would have closed down production, labs and everything. But everything is going on, except release of films. So when the entire industry is working, why should theatres alone be forced to close? From the theatres’ side, there is no dispute with the service providers. The Producers Council has an issue. They haven’t even requested us to do a token shutdown.” SR Prabhu, Treasurer of Producers Council, however, disagrees. “We tried to reach out to them but things didn’t work out.”
So, how badly will this affect the theatres? “Not much,” says Ramanathan. “There are 52 weeks in a year, and we don’t get Tamil releases on some weeks. In such times, we survive on other language films. I have been in this industry for 40 years and March has always been the worst month for releases. Only small budget films get released during this time. Between the beginning of March and April 15, there is always a lull in collections.”
Prabhu, however, says, “The strike was supposed to happen in January, but we gave them two months to stop their wayward practices. March was not chosen with any strategic motives at all.”
What is the next course of action? SR Prabhu says, “According to the C-form registration that theatres do, they are supposed to own the projectors. However, at this point of time, the DSPs own it and neither the theatre nor the producers, who have been paying for the projectors, have any ownership of it. So we are going to approach the government to ensure that the law that is already present is executed. This would ensure that we don’t have to pay VPF (Virtual Print Fee), which goes to fund projectors that are installed in theatres by DSPs.”
Meanwhile, a QUBE source revealed that in a meeting chaired by L Suresh from the Southern film chamber of commerce on February 27, DSPs offered a reduced VPF price for films releasing in less than 100 screens and that it was accepted by everyone. “But the next day, TFPC announced they are going on strike. They said they are not interested in talking with us anymore,” he said.
There has, however, been no additional offer for big films after DSPs reduced VPF of 14,000 (disputed by TFPC whic claims that the amount offered was 20000) was rejected. The impasse continues, and all parties are hopeful of a quick resolution, so as to ensure that the industry doesn’t suffer irredeemable losses.
(with inputs from Meera Suresh and A Sharadhaa)
A few releases in Karnataka, Kerala
Karnataka may opt for a change in its approach and Sa Ra Govindu, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce President, says, “We expected last-minute negotiations to resolve the issue and hence, did not stop the release of new films. But the ban will start on March 9.” In Kerala, two new films, Theneechayum Peerankipadayum and Khalifa, are scheduled from Saturday (March 3) onward, after a one-day stir.