Following the Telugu film industry’s decision to hold a strike in the month of March to protest the price levied by digital service providers (who stream movies to theaters) and the cost of movie tickets, the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) too, may show their support by shutting down theatres from March 1, 2018.
A Sify report states that representatives from the Telugu film industry had invited members of the Tamil film industry to join them in protest. A meeting is also said to have happened, with the film industry and the DSPs possibly arriving at a consensus. Ticket pricing – something that the TFPC had protested against the last time – is said to have been discussed too.
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In December last year, it was reported that the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce had been contemplating a shutdown for a while. Muthyala Ramdoss, General Secretary of TFCC had told Deccan Chronicle that distributors are paying the charges for digital projection (about Rs 20,000 per week) of the film, which in actuality should be borne either by the exhibitor or DSPs because the latter is installing the equipment in the premises of the former.
Telugu film Rangasthalam, starring Ram Charan and Samantha Akkineni, is slated for a March 30 release and is likely to get affected by this. Mahesh Babu’s Bharat Ane Nenu has reportedly changed its release date. In Tamil Nadu, it is unlikely that there’ll be any new releases for now.
According to sources, an official announcement from the TFPC is expected soon.