Film-goers in the South were in for a huge disappointment on Friday, when new films typically hit the screens, as exhibitors closed all the 4,500 theatres in protest against the “exorbitant” virtual print fee (VPF).

All the theatres have displayed notices announcing the temporary closure.

The Joint Action Committee formed by the South Indian Film Industry hinted that the protest could last a week, although no timeline has been formally announced.

Exhibitors claim that digital projection service providers had promised to phase out the VPF over a period of time. “But the service providers (UFO and Qube) continue to charge the exhibitors an exorbitant fee. We demand that they set a deadline to end this fee,” D Suresh Babu, Chairman of the JAC and Managing Director of Suresh Productions, told BusinessLine .

According to an exhibitor, the VPF ranges from ₹12,000 to ₹27,000 a week.

The South dominates the film exhibition sector, with more than half of the 8,500 theatres in the country functioning in the five States of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

The South Indian film industry, particularly Tamil and Telugu, is a major contributor to the country’s film revenues. While Bollywood contributed 43 per cent to the estimated ₹17,300 crore revenues last year, the Tamil and Telugu industries accounted for 36 per cent.

Given the sweeping changes the world over with the advent of digital screening technology, virtual prints have completely replaced physical prints.

Digital projection, however, requires huge investments, and big players like UFO Moviez and Qube Cinema Technologies have entered the business.

Besides the VPF issue, the industry is upset with the “long window of advertisements” in theatres that irk the patrons. “Sometimes, the ads run for 25-30 minutes. The joy of watching a film is diminished,” Suresh Babu, said.

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