The Hindu : No end in sight to cinema crisis

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

No end in sight to cinema crisis

By N.J. Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Mar. 3. With distributors and exhibitors refusing to relent, no end seems to be in sight to the impasse in the film industry. The executive of the Film Exhibitors Association, Kerala, is meeting on Tuesday to chalk out the strategy to intensify the agitation. The exhibitors have turned down the demand to hike the share of Malayalam as well as English, Hindi and Tamil films being released in Kerala and also increasing the holdover period.

If consensus eludes the dispute, the Malayalam film industry which has an annual investment of around Rs. 200 crores and supports around one lakh families, will grind to halt from March 15 as the producers have decided to stop all the ongoing projects declaring solidarity with the distributors.

As many as 58 films, including those of Mammootty, Mohanlal and Dileep are awaiting release. The loss in this regard itself would account to Rs.150 crores and it keeps on mounting with every passing day. Only two films have been released this year. Even if the industry leaders iron out a solution and all the 58 films are released in a row, it would have a bearing on the collection. The distributors and producers are reported to have reached an accord and the films will be released considering the date of completion.

The distributors have demanded that the exhibitors' share in air-conditioned theatres should be fixed 60 per cent in the first week and 55 per cent in the second week and in the non-A/C theatres, 65 and 60 per cent respectively.

``Now the main contention is over increasing the holdover period. If the collection of a film drops, now the exhibitors hold over a film after three shows. This should be increased to a week. We are fighting for our survival and there is no question of repealing the agitation unless the exhibitors honour our demands,'' the Distributors Association president, Kireedom Unni, said.

According to the Film Exhibitors Federation chairman, S. Chandran, the dispute over the share of Malayalam films can be settled amicably through discussions. For, no one would work against the interests of Malayalam cinema. The demand to hike the share of English, Tamil and Hindi films released in Kerala is totally unjustified. This is not for the well-being of the one lakh families which depend on the industry. The distributors are trying to shield the vested interests of a minority, which releases other language films in the State, he said.

``Since I became the Kerala State Film Development Corporation board member, I had unsuccessfully been trying to release Malayalam films in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Then why should they demand to hike the share of other language films? The thrust should be on Malayalam cinema which is in deep crisis, he said.

Distributors secure the rights of Tamil films for whopping sums and quite often they may not be able to make any profit. He cited the case of the Rajanikant film, `Baba' and the Kamal Hassan starrer, `Anbe Shivam.' After securing the rights for a hefty sum, they have failed to rise up to the expectations. This is an unhealthy trend, he said.

The power tariff hike has made the going tough and the exhibitors have been repeatedly seeking relief from the Government.

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