All forthcoming releases will come to a stall April 4 onwards courtesy the ongoing tussle between the producers and the distributors on one side and the exhibitors (multiplexes) on the other over revenue sharing for upcoming films.
“The multiplexes are not willing to accept rationalised terms for all films in India like in the rest of the world. In the light of this, the producers-distributors have decided not to market or release any new film set to release April onwards,” Aman Gill, director, domestic theatrical distribution of Studio 18, told IANS on telephone from Mumbai.
“The multiplexes have formed an illegal cartel to gang up against the individual producer or distributor and are using it to dictate terms, payments and even number of shows allotted to distributors,” he explained.
Producer Vashu Bhagnani who has willingly postponed the April release of his home project “Kal Kissne Dekha” added: “Multiplex owners demand imbalanced and unfair share in the profit of a movie despite the increase in the production cost and the global recession effect on the entertainment industry.”
“This is incorrect, first we will settle down the profit sharing, then only we will release any film in the multiplexes,” he said.
The negotiations started about four weeks ago to rationalise the terms between both parties. While, the discussions failed, the Film and Television Producers Guild of India decided two weeks ago not to push any new releases in multiplexes across the country April 3 onwards.
The strike is now to commence April 4 onwards, however, allowing the release of Nagesh Kukunoor’s Akshay Kumar starrer “8X10 Tasveer” April 3.
According to Ratan Jain and Mukesh Bhatt, both spokespersons for United Producers Forum which consists of the various associations of producers and distributors their grievances are as follows
1. Multiplexes take the call on percentage revenue - it differs from film to film. On bigger films, they take as much as 52 per cent. Do they know the fate of every film before hand?
2. Multiplexes decide how many shows will be allotted to the films.
3. Multiplexes pull out a film according to their own whims and fancies. Certain small films pick up by word of mouth only after three days.
4. Multiplexes don’t inform producers if and when they pull out a film. There have been cases when a producer is under the impression his film is running at a particular theater, but suddenly realizes it’s not so.
5. Multiplexes don’t adhere to the different tax structures in different states. In other words, their accounting is not transparent.
If their grievances are not addressed and the multiplexes do not toe their line there will be no Bollywood release from April 4.
Credits: Hindustan Times & Mumbai Mirror
Read also
