Cinema theatres in Tamil Nadu, barring Chennai, will remain closed from Friday over the virtual print fee (VPF) levied by digital service providers (DSP).

The exhibitors say they are suffering heavy loss since new releases stopped on March 1.

Tamil Film Producers Council had earlier announced that all production activities would stop from March 16. It includes post-production activities, release of teasers, audio launch and movie-related print ads. Production activities in other States and overseas will stop by March 23, according to a press release.

This has not gone down well with the exhibitors.

According to Tirupur Subramani, a Tamil film distributor and theatre owner, theatres are losing close to ₹30 crore a week without new releases and steep fall in footfalls. “We have to spend out of our pockets for taxes and operational cost. Closing down is better than running shows for few people,” he said.

Subramani argues that it is pointless to continue protest when it is not benefiting anybody. Apart from Chennai, all other theatres will shut down from March 16 till the issue is resolved, said Subramani.

DSPs had offered to reduce the price by 18-23 per cent, which was brought down to ₹250 from ₹325 per show. The rate is reduced further to ₹200 for the third week, ₹100 for fourth week and ₹75 for movies that run for more than four weeks. There is also the option to cap the VPF at ₹20,000 when a film is successful and runs for months.

‘Permanent solution’

While the Telugu film industry has accepted the offer, Tamil producers want to do away with VPF completely. “If they are not happy they should bring in an alternative,” said Subramani. “If the protest continues for a month, the industry will be at a loss of close to ₹300 crore.”.

RK Selvamani, President, Film Employees Federation of South India that supports TFPC, said the protest will result in huge loss. There are 23,000 members in the federation who earn about ₹2-12 lakh per day per film. “We are looking at a loss of ₹1 crore per day,” he said.

“Producers are unable to pay employees since they are short of money. For instance, in the place of 10 people there are only five people employed. Unless there is a permanent solution in place, the film employees will continue to suffer.”

There are talks about an alternative. South India Film Chamber of Commerce and TFPC are planning to buy projectors and distribute to theatres similar. “There will be no VPF involved in this. But it is yet to be finalised,” he said.

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