Telugu film producers have written a plot that gives a free run to Telugu films, while letting dubbed movies (read Tamil movies) starve for theatres. Not a blanket ban, though. They want a ban on dubbed movies during festival seasons. But then, that is the time when films rake in the moolah.

The Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce feels that the number of screens a dubbed movie can hit too should be limited and tax on such movies should be doubled from the present 20 per cent. It appointed a four-member committee to study the problem and suggest measures to regulate the inflow.

But film exhibitors have a different take. They did not like this plot. They feel that it is as dull as a plot of an average Telugu film.

“We have to run four shows a day and we need constant flow of films. Be it Telugu, Tamil or any other language, we have to have some film on hand to attract audience. A good number of Tamil movies run well and we see no reason to curtail them,” Mr R.V. Bhupal Prasad, President of Vijayawada Exhibitors' Association, told Business Line .

Films of Rajnikanth, Vikram, Surya and Karthi get huge openings. The fact that Telugu producers, barring those who make films with top stars, delay releases to avoid competition from dubbed films shows the impact of dubbed movies.

It is this association that came out openly against the proposed restrictions on dubbed movies. Exhibitors from Tirupati and Hyderabad have joined them. “We are talking to our peers across the State on the issue. We are getting a lot of empathy from them,” Mr Bhupal Prasad, who owns Navrang theatre, one of the oldest theatres in the South India, said.

Agitated exhibitors have convened a meeting in Vijayawada on November 19 to discuss and announce a resolution in this regard.

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