Tamil film industry fears a longer shutdown will hit its finances severely

Tamil film industry fears a longer shutdown will hit its finances severely on Business Standard. Almost 30 Tamil films scheduled to be released in the month of March are stuck

Latest News With a shutdown in the Tamil film industry crossing a month and the film producers widening their number of demands, the industry fears that a longer period of distress and an unprecedented loss might be awaiting them in the near future. Almost 30 Tamil films scheduled to be released in the month of March are stuck and the industry is estimated to have lost around Rs 1.5-2 billion, since no new Tamil films were released for a month now, according to industry experts. The Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC), who were earlier emphasising on its demand for the Digital Service Providers (DSPs), who digitally provide the movies to the cinemas, such as Qube Cinemas and UFO, to reduce the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) paid by the producers to cast their movies in cinemas. The DSPs reduced the amount to an extend and the other South Indian language films resumed operations. The TFPC, which did not agree to the rate of reduction, has said that it has been raising other issues, which also has to be addressed along with the issue of VPF. The issues include ticketing system to be computerised for transparency in the system and the online ticket sellers to reduce their fee per booking. They also sought a flexible ticket rate should be

implemented to make watching movies in cinemas affordable to more people and the government should set up a Film Development Corporation to address the issues with the film industry in the State. However, experts on condition of anonymity said that this could affect the industry in the best season, the summer vacation, and the Tamil New Year falls on April 14. Rajinkanth's Kaala, a big budget political movie, is also scheduled to be released by the end of the month.