Chennai theatre owners call off stir

Chennai: In a good news for movie buffs, theatre owners called off their strike on Thursday after government assurances over the question of double taxation of GST plus corporation or municipal entertainment levy will be considered. To begin with, only GST will be collected on top of ticket prices from Thursday.

Over 1,000 screens in the state had been shut for the last four days leading to a loss of `20 crore, as estimated by the Tamil Nadu Film Chamber of Commerce. The film industry was up in arms over movie tickets attracting 18% GST on tickets up to `100 and 28% GST on higher priced tickets plus a flat 30% entertainment levy by the local body. 

A committee of government officials and representatives of associations of the film industry has been formed to sort out the taxation issue. 

The committee comprises 12 members, six from government and six from Tamil film industry.

It is learnt that Vishal, Kathiresan, SR Prabhu from TFPC and Abhirami Ramanathan, Tirupur Subramanian and Arulpathi from the film chamber are the representatives of the industry.

Speaking to DC, Abirami Ramanathan, chamber president, said, “Theatres in the state will open from Friday morning.” As of now the theatres will function with the existing ticket rates along with the GST added. For now, no municipal taxes are to be added”, he revealed. While a Rs 100 ticket will cost Rs 118, higher tickets will attract 28% GST.

The announcement by theatre owners comes as a relief to the makers of seven films that were released last Friday. Director Kannan, whose production and directorial venture Ivan Thandhiran, said his film would have to face the tensions of a release all over again. Films like Vanamagan and Maragatha Naanayam which were running to packed houses in their second and third weeks also face a similar situation of a kind of re-release.

Speaking to DC, Kannan said, “It’s refreshing news and I am happy my film is getting a second release. It was well received in the opening weekend”. Director Vijay, who is also the producer of Jayam Ravi’s Vanamagan was worried about the piracy aspect.

“Our film got very good response and did good business. We also increased number of theatres in the second week. Unfortunately, it got stuck with the strike. I am worried about piracy. Imagine, if films are not screened at theatres, their next option is to seek pirated versions – either online or DVDs. The hard work of hundreds of people and huge investment has gone into Vanamagan’s making. I appeal to Tamil audiences not to encourage piracy.”