A producer of about 30 films, P. Ramakrishna Goud, broke his weeklong hunger strike following an assurance from Transport Minister P. Mahender Reddy that he would take up his case with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Protesting the alleged monopoly over theatres by a group of film industry bigwigs, the producer had launched the hunger strike. By having a majority of theatres under their control, they were dictating terms and those who did not accede to the terms ran the risk of not seeing their films in the theatres.
On Friday, Mr. Mahender Reddy visited the hunger strike camp and gave him a glass of lemonade marking the end of his fast. The Minister promised to take up the issue with the Chief Minister and see that the injustice was stopped, especially in the Nizam distribution area that spans across Telangana.
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In the past week, small filmmakers, who were victims themselves, expressed support to Mr. Goud and took part in agitations demanding justice. They laid siege to the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce and Rama Naidu Studios, took out a ‘funeral’ procession and also burnt the effigies of prominent members of the industry.
Prominent among those who expressed support and stood by Mr. Goud was Kethireddy Jagadheeshwar Reddy, director/producer and former member of the Regional Film Censor Board. The Chennai-based filmmaker said that 844 of the total 1,580 theatres in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh were in the hands of the cartel that dictated terms.
The small filmmakers alleged that by enjoying control over a majority of the theatres, having taken them over on lease, members of the cartel fleeced them by demanding rent that was much higher than the industry average. The only exception was multiplexes, where the percentage system – sharing 50-50 of collections – is followed, minus the electricity and other maintenance costs of the multiplex.
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