| The theatres which have shuttered their ticket windows
as per the Karnataka Cinema Theater Owners Association (KCTOA), include:
Innovative Multiplex, Symphony, Rex, Abhinay, Kailash, Tribhuvan,
Menaka, Cauvery, Urvashi, Natraj, Sampige, Naga, Lavanaya, Sri Balaji,
Vaibhav, Pradeep, Parimala, Pushpanjali, Radhakrishna, Movieland and
Sangeet.
As reported by Indiantelevision.com early last week, under pressure
from Karnataka Film Producers Association (KFPA) and Karnataka Film
Directors Association (KFDA), a government sponsored panel headed
by the chief secretary K P Pandey had recommended that non-Kannada
Films be screened in Karnataka only after seven weeks from the release
date in their own states and that only six prints of each film be
permitted for the state.
Non-Kannada film theater owners and exhibitors are also unhappy
about the fact that they didn't have adequate and proper representation
on the Pandey committee.
Of the 21 theaters that have decided to close down, 12 were major
contributors to the Rs 330 million collected by the state by way
of entertainment tax last year. It is this very entertainment tax
that is doled out by the government largesse as subsidy for the
original Kannada film every year. Entertainment tax is not levied
on Kannada films in Karnataka.
For the past three weeks since the beginning of the agitation,
collections of theaters have dropped by more than 90 per cent. Some
theaters have been forced to resort to rerun old sleaze movies to
garner a paying audience, but, have been unsuccessful in improving
box-office collections.
Media reports allege that some Kannada producers have been demanding
double or more charges in advance for screening their films, hitting
the viability of the theaters further. The Kannada Film Industry
churns out award winners no doubt, but most of its wares are lackluster
and low box-office draws.
Meanwhile, a Bollywood delegation comprising of Samajawdi Party
leader Amar Sngh, Jaya Bachchan, Yash Chopra, L. Suresh and Boney
Kapoor had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Information
and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy at New Delhi on Friday and
expressed concern about the happenings in the state pertaining to
the film industry.
The Bollywood film fraternity is worried that these protectionist
measures of the Karnataka government could affect the export and
release of their films in the other countries, and could also adversely
affect export of other goods and services from India. According
to reports, a delegation from the center is expected to arrive in
Bangalore and discuss the issues with the government shortly.
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