An unofficial meeting held between Mollywood producers, distributors, and exhibitors has failed to bring in any positive results. The strike that has been delaying the release of Malayalam movies slated for a Christmas release will continue. In fact, no Malayalam film has released since the strike was announced on 16 December. Attempts to contact union leaders have also failed.
However, Exhibitors Federation President Liberty Basheer was not a part of the meeting. The strike was the result of an impasse between producers/distributors and exhibitors over sharing of theater earnings. The current scenario is a 60:40 ratio where 60% of the earning goes to the producer/distributor and 40% to the exhibitor. The exhibitors have demanded a 50:50 share, a split multiplexes already follow.
As per reports, the producers/distributors have demanded a 70:30 share for the big Christmas releases, thereby worsening the situation.
Recommended
Prioritising other language movies has also created a stir in Kerala. Liberty Basheer has lashed out against Kerala Film Producers’ Association leader G Suresh Kumar for causing a standstill in the film industry. He has also alleged that G Suresh Kumar is stonewalling a solution to the crisis so that his daughter Keerthy Suresh’s Tamil film Bairavaa, which stars Vijay, will get more screens in Kerala. As per a report in The Indian Express, Basheer has now claimed that the film currently has than 100 screens and will get more than 200 screens if the strike is further delayed .
The government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are expected to intercede and bring the issue to an end.