Now stand off between Kannada film industry and multiplexes
By IANSMonday, May 25, 2009
BANGALORE - The long standoff between multiplex owners and Bollywood filmmakers has affected the Kannada film industry too, with two big budget Kannada films “Dubai Babu” and “Taakat” failing to reach the multiscreen cinemas here because of the row over revenue sharing.
The producers fear they will have to bear heavy losses because of the tiff.
The Kannada film industry is having a stand off with the multiplexes, particularly PVR and INOX, for not agreeing to share revenue with the producers on the basis of occupancy ratios. The producers demand that when the revenues are falling, the share should be proportionately shared between the multiplexes and the producers.
Thomas D’Souza, senior vice president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), said the talks are on with the multiplexes for a settlement.
“The representatives of the multiplexes are meeting the executive committee members of the KFCC today. We hope to reach a solution in a day or two,” he said.
D’Souza also added that the KFCC would permit screening of the Kannada films in the multiplexes as soon as the issue is resolved.
“We were expecting a good revenue from PVR and INOX multiplexes, but since we were prevented from screening our films in these multiplexes we are sure to bear huge losses. I have spent nearly Rs.50 million on my film. Losing out additional revenue that comes in the initial weeks by screening the film in the multiplexes would result in huge losses to producers,” Shylendra Babu, producer of “Dubai Babu”, told IANS.
The multiplexes, which haven’t screened any Hindi films since the last two months because of the tiff with the Bollywood producers on the same issue, have been under severe pressure to accept the demands of the Kannada producers as the revenues have come down drastically.
