With no new South Indian film releases in Tamil Nadu, the occupancy rate has hit a new low in cinemas. Theatres will close down from March 9 if the dispute between producers and exhibitors is not resolved, say theatre owners.

R Panneerselvam, owner of Rohini Theatres in Chennai, said: “I’m running the theatre just for 10-20 people. If this continues, we may not sustain for long,” he said.

Ramkumar Nammalvar, Founder of online ticket booking platform TicketNew, agrees that occupancy is at the lowest with no new releases in the State. To bridge the gap, some theatres are rereleasing old movies like Vikram Vedha , a box-office hit that was released in July 2017, actor Ajith’s 2015 movie Vedalam , actor Rajinikanth’s class Baasha and even Titanic .

Another source said that at a time when movies do not run for more than two weeks, without new releases, it is a strain on exhibitors. Footfalls have come down with the advent of Amazon and Netflix in the last couple of years.

Double taxation

Also, since last year, cinemas were under pressure due to double taxation – GST and entertainment tax levied by the State government.

Panneerselvam said the operational cost per day is ₹70,000 that includes electricity bill, employee salary and corporation tax. With collection barely touching ₹20,000 per day, cinema owners had to shell out close to ₹50,000 out of pocket to meet the expenses.

“We would rather close down till the issue gets resolved. At least we are saving ₹50,000 that way,” he added.

Theatre owners are currently holding talks with producers regarding the tiff with digital service providers (DSP) like Qube Cinemas over Virtual Print Fee (VPF). But, so far, there is no resolution in sight. While the other South Indian markets have accepted the 23 per cent reduction offered by the DSP, Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council has not accepted it.

“We are holding another round of talks on March 9. If it is not successful, cinemas will be closed down,” Panneerselvam said.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW