Kollywood shutdown ends; which Tamil film will release first?

After 48 days of shutting down work, the Tamil film industry is all set to resume work. On Tuesday, after a marathon meeting that started at 11.30am and ended only at 9.15pm, the tripartite talks between the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC), the Digital Service Providers (DSPs), and exhibitors, mediated by the Tamil Nadu government, finally came to an end with a positive outcome.
Speaking after the talks, Vishal, president, TFPC, said, “From June 1, the Tamil film industry will become completely transparent. Computerised ticketing will be introduced throughout Tamil Nadu and a Government Order (GO) will be passed on this soon. To make it convenient for the public, flexible pricing of tickets will be introduced. Based on the nature of the film, the ticket rates will be fixed.”
Vishal also informed that the TFPC will be launching its own online ticket booking platform. “The online booking charge when booked through this facility will be a maximum of `4 per transaction compared to the current `30 per ticket,” he said.
The strike began with the TFPC differing over the charges levied as Virtual Print Fess (VPFs) by the DSPs. Vishal revealed that the DSPs have agreed to reduce the VPF rates. “For a period of six months, E-cinema rates have been brought down from `9,000 to `5,000 for a week’s run. For a film’s entire run, the rates have been revised to `10,000 from the earlier `22,000.” He added, “This kind of reduction in VPF charges hasn’t happened in any other state.”
As for the high end, D-cinema, there will be another round of talks in two weeks or two months to decide on the charges and until then the existing charges will remain, he said. The TFPC will also be setting up a mastering facility, too.
On the resumption of film shoots and release of new Tamil films, Vishal said that a decision will be taken after discussion with members. “Films will be released in an order. We have formed a release regulation committee that will ensure that three releases can be accommodated in a weekend, with all three getting adequate number of screens,” he informed.
Senthil Kumar, co-founder of Qube, one of the DSPs, said, “The primary reason why we agreed to reduce our rates for this trial period is because exhibitors were getting really panicky as even Telugu movie releases were stopped following the request of the TFPC. They were out of content, and wanted to do something to get things back on track. They told us that if things don’t work out after the trial period, we can explain that later and rework things. We were also upset about FEFSI workers not getting any work all these days. It was an unfair move on the part of TFPC to have them go on strike as well.”
He said that it is difficult to predict the impact that this rate reduction will have on DSPs. “At the individual level, every producer will technically have a 50% saving. But as a result, the producer might choose to expand the release. That’s why it is difficult to predict the overall loss for us,” he explained.
He also clarified that exhibitors have always had an exit clause and depending on the agreement, they have an exit period of six to 12 months, if they chose to go with a different DSP. Senthil called this a definite win for the producers, but said that it is too early to decide if it was a win for the DSPs as well. “For us, I wouldn’t call it a win until I see how the next three to four months of releases goes, and what the actual earnings are,” he said.
“The strike has been withdrawn with some gain, so in that context, every producer is happy. We have been able to gain some mileage in terms of cost reduction, release regulation, computerization of ticketing and flexible pricing,” said producer G Dhananjayan, who added that all the producers were on the same page when it came to deciding on the order of releases.
L Suresh, president, South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, who was part of the talks, said, “We are happy and very thankful to the Government of Tamil Nadu for intervening in this matter and bringing about a truce. For, never in the history of Tamil films has there been a 45-day strike. We are also happy to note that the exhibitor and producer sectors extended their support and came together with the intention of seeking a solution.”
MINISTER WANTED AN IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION
Giving us some dope on what actually went on during the talks, an insider told us, “The producers and others asked for a week to reconvene and come to a conclusion regarding ending the strike after the day-long meeting, but the minister would hear none of it. He said, ‘We’ve agreed on many positive things, and there will be continued government support, but the strike has to end right now.’ And so, they all convened for half-an-hour and then came out and said they agree to end the strike. The minister promised to issue a GO soon to aid and smoothen the process of total computerisation of the theatres in TN.”
WHICH FILM WILL RELEASE FIRST?
WHAT KIND OF FLEXI-PRICING TO EXPECT