The State government will shortly take a decision on reopening cinema halls on the basis of directions from the Centre, Information Minister Kadambur Raju said on Saturday.
Tamil film industry representatives have renewed their appeal to open cinema halls. The nearly ₹1,500-crore industry will be in the doldrums if cinema halls remain shut, they have said. With multiple restrictions being lifted, the government has to take a decision on speedy reopening of theatres, they have said.
Almost all stakeholders — producers, actors, filmmakers and even the unions — have urged the Central and State governments to reopen theatres as other trades, including restaurants, air travel, Metro services and malls, have been allowed to operate.
Mr. Raju said at a media interaction that the producers’ decision to release films on OTT digital streaming platforms had affected the film industry workers hard.
“This is an unprecedented situation. Even high-level meetings of officials are being conducted online, given the gravity of the situation in the wake of the pandemic. We’ve understood that the OTT release of films has hit the workers hard... Hence, you can expect the government to take the right decision with guidance from the Centre,” he said.
While producers supported Suriya’s decision to release his film Soorarai Pottru on Amazon Prime Video, the theatre-owners were unhappy. However, the revenue from a theatre release still accounts for a major chunk of the total revenue of a film.
In March this year, a report by FICCI-EY entitled ‘The era of consumer A.R.T.- Acquisition Retention and Transaction’, put the total theatrical revenue of Tamil films at ₹1,460 crore during 2019, while the total revenue of the Indian film industry was put at ₹11,500 crore. Exhibitor and distributor Tiruppur Subramanian said the owners were ready to follow the Centre’s guidelines to reopen theatres. “We are hoping that the theatres will be allowed to open from October 1,” he said.
Asked whether he had any demand over the occupancy level, he said, “We don’t know the government norms. Whatever they are, we will follow their instructions.” The industry expects to be given protocols to follow, just as other sectors that have opened up so far have been given, and make assurances that they will follow the instructions to the letter.
After Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami allowed film shooting to resume from September 1, the shooting of several small and medium budget films has begun. Producer Dhananjayan says around 10 films , including actor Vijay Antony for Kodiyil Oruvan, have started shooting.
While marquee stars are likely to wait and watch if the shooting progresses without risks, producers say younger actors are keen to start shooting.
“Around 6 films have begun shooting from today and there is a film that is being shot in Rajasthan,” said R.K. Selvamani, president, Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI). He said the FEFSI would urge the State government to increase the number of workers allowed on a film set to 100 from the current limit of 75, because several industries have been allowed to operate with full strength.
