Cinema Theatres On Strike Tomorrow

Kochi : Over 5,000 cinema houses in the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will remain closed on Friday in protest of alleged exploitation by digital service providers like UFO and QUBE.

The strike has been called by South Indian Film Chamber with counter bodies of each of three states.

The theaters owners demand a cut in virtual print fee(VPF) and reducing time allotted for advertisements during film screenings.

Presently VPF is slated at Rs. 26,000 for each film screened which hits the theatre hard when small budget films attracting small audience run, the chamber representatives said.

Also, advertisement take up nearly half hour before a film begins and during interval, the entire revenue of which goes to digital providers, Kerala Film Chamber General Secretary Saga Apachan and Vice-President Anil Thomas told a newspaper.

Plus cinema houses are forced to contribute large sums in the name of upgrading digital technology, they added.

Tomorrow’s strike comes after discussions held with govt recently failed to reach a solution.

The decision for indefinite strike is not being considered now, the chamber office bearers said.