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Film-goers in the South are in for a huge disappointment on Friday, the day when films hit screens, as all the 4,500 theatres have been shut down by exhibitors in protest against the exorbitant Virtual Print Fee (VPF). Though they have not given any timeline for protest, the Joint Action Committee formed by the South Indian Film Industry has hinted that it could last for a week.
All the theatres have displayed a notice board at the entrances, announcing the temporary closure of theatres in protest against the imposition of VPF. Exhibitors alleged that the digital projection service providers had promised to phase out VPF over a period of time. “But there seems to be no end with the service providers (UFO and Qube) continuing to charge the exhibitors an exorbitant fee. We demand a timeline from them to end this fee,” D Suresh Babu, Chairman of the JAC, told BusinessLine .
The South dominates the country’s film exhibition sector, with more than half of the 8,500 theatres functioning in the five states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The exhibitors have been fighting against the fee, alleging that the service providers are trying to recover the cost of equipment in a short period of time.
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