350 theatres in Kerala to remain shut from Thursday

As the talks between film distributors and producers in the state failed to solve the ongoing tiff over sharing of collections, Kerala Film Exhibitor's Federation decided to down the shutters of all 'A' class theatres from Thursday. As many as 350 theatres will remain closed for an indefinite period, the Federation announced. 
 

In the first stage of protest, theatres under the Federation decided not to exhibit any Malayalam film. For the past one month, they were releasing only other language films. From Thursday onwards this too will not happen. 
 

"We took the decision unanimously, but is open to discussions to solve the issue if the government comes forward," said Liberty Basheer, Federation president. 
 

The issue began with Federations demand to change revenue sharing ratio between exhibitors and distributors. Current ratio is 60:40 and Federation want to change this to 50:50, which producers opposed unanimously. The current ratio is in prevalence since 2003. 
 

The distributors and producers are now up in arms and say they are not ready to succumb to the tactics of Federation. They have decided to start release of Malayalam films, that have been held up since last month, in theatres that do not come under the Federation. 
 

"Let them go ahead with their decision. We too want to wait and see how long they will be able to keep us out," said Basheer. 
 

Federation demanded a change in revenue sharing ratio after the entry of multiplexes which is following 50:50 pattern. The theatres under the Federation is also demanding same ratio. 
 

Though few rounds of coalition talks were held with distributors, exhibitors and producers, all of them went futile. Now the Federation is pinning hopes on government intervention as the issue is affecting the tax revenue received by state government. 
 

Responding to this, ace filmmaker Sathyan Anthikad had said that the issue is plaguing Malayalam film industry. Release of his latest flick 'Jomonte Suvisheshangal' was postponed due to theatre strike. He criticised the business mindset of striking groups and slammed their attitude towards the hard work of film crew. He also warned that people will lose interest in watching movies. 

• Theatre strike
• film release
• Malayalam films
• Exhibitors Federation
• indefinite strike
• Cinema strike