The currency crunch experienced by the people following the Central Government’s demonetisation move looks to have had an impact on the viewer turnout at the International Film Festival under way in the city.
23 movies
The five-day film festival, organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artistes Association, began on November 18 at Diamond cinema and it features 23 movies in 13 languages.
R. Eswaran, district secretary of the Association, attributed the lesser than expected turnout to the demonetisation.
“People are now busy exchanging the old notes in their hand. It was evident from the fact that only 50 per cent of the 120 people invited from other districts had turned up, even though we were ready to provide accommodation and food for all of them. The reasons cited by them was that they did not want to spend the money in their possession for travel or other sundry expenses”, Mr. Eswaran said.
The case was largely the same with the people from city too.
According to Mr. Eswaran, the maximum turnout of around 500 out of the total seating capacity of 690 was for the much popular Nagraj Manjule-directed Marathi movie Sairat starring Rinku Rajguru and and Akash Thosar. This turnout was primarily because the tickets were sold prior to the announcement of demonetisation.
But the movie buffs who had attended the film festival were more than happy with the selection of films.
“I was thrilled to see films such as Walesa: Man of Hope (Polish). Despite hardships faced by us due to the currency crunch, I decided to come as a viewer to support organising of such a festival”, said S. Manoharan, a dyeing unit owner.
