Mumbai: Theatre owners in Tamil Nadu may finally get some relief, with the state government considering their demand to allow film screenings from 6 am to 2 am, along with several other proposals from the film industry.
Representatives of the Tamil Film Producers Council, Tamil Film Active Producers Association, theatre owners and distributors met state Information and Publicity Minister A Rajmohan in Chennai. According to a Times of India report on Thursday, Rajmohan said the government had agreed to around 90 per cent of their demands.
The industry has also sought an eight-week gap between theatrical and OTT releases, a government-backed streaming platform for smaller films and greater transparency in box-office collections.
Tamil Nadu currently allows first-day film screenings from 9 am. Producer G Dhananjeyan, who attended the meeting, said theatres were losing revenue because films were being screened earlier in other states and overseas.
“We are losing out on the revenue of an entire show. With social media, early reactions hit the internet instantly. By the time our local audience walks into a 9am show, the narrative is set,” he told The Times of India.
Allowing theatres to remain open until 2 am could also mean an additional 1,200 screenings across the state every day, Dhananjeyan said.
Why the film industry was heading for a shutdown
The meeting follows a dispute in August that nearly brought the Tamil film industry to a standstill.
Theatre owners and distributors had announced that they would screen only films whose producers agreed to wait eight weeks before releasing them on OTT platforms. Many Tamil films currently arrive on streaming platforms after just four weeks.
Producers objected, saying the decision had been taken without consulting them. They were also unhappy with distributors deciding to stop paying advances for new films. The producers’ associations then announced that they would halt new Tamil film releases, shooting and post-production work from 1 September.
Rajmohan asked theatre owners and distributors to continue with the existing release arrangements and promised to hold talks with all three groups after the Assembly session. The producers called off the planned strike on 28 August.
Box-office transparency and a platform for smaller films
The industry has also asked the government to introduce an online system through which box-office collections can be reported after every screening. It has proposed a separate OTT platform for smaller Tamil films, which often struggle to secure space on major streaming services.
Rajmohan has not specified which demands the government has agreed to. The proposals will now be sent to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay for approval before any changes are announced.
(Edited By Raunaq Lekhi)