The demonetisation has had an adverse effect on the operations of the Tamil film industry which depends largely on cash transactions for its daily operations.
While the move has marginally hit occupancy levels in theatres as they have refused to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, senior members of the Tamil film industry say that the move to go completely cashless in future will only help in reform and growth of the film industry.
Stating that the Tamil film industry must use this opportunity to make sure cash transactions become the norm in the industry, actor Nasser, president, Nadigar Sangam, said that the day-to-day operations have not been affected. “After the announcement, the producers, actors and daily wage workers in the film industry have come to an understanding. Going forward, I also hope that we can encourage bank transfers within Nadigar Sangam instead of prevailing norm of doling out cash,” he said, adding that the industry will continue to cope with the difficult situation in the coming days.
Major production houses producing big movies seem to have managed the situation adequately.
Raju Mahalingam, Creative Head, Lyca Productions, which is producing several movies at a time, including director Shankar’s 2.0 , starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, and actor Kamal Haasan’s Sabaash Naidu , said, “The industry practice is to give out daily wage in cash. Because of this issue, we got the account details of all the workers and did a wire transfer,” said Raju Mahalingam.
He said that the production house is mulling over whether to continue to adopt ‘cashless’ transaction. “Since we have already done it, we will try to see if we can continue this system in future as well. Giving cash to workers is hassle for us as well,” he said.
While the industry insiders are largely in favour of ‘cashless transactions’, G. Siva, president, Film Employees Federation of South India, warned against an attempt to completely move towards a cashless transaction within the industry.
“It is not feasible since most workers depend on cash for their day-to-day expenses. While it could be okay for junior artistes, camera assistants to manage with bank transfers, daily labourers such as light men, production assistants might find it very tough,” he said.
