The reduction in local body tax from 10% to 8% for Tamil films by the State government and the proposals made by actor Vishal, general secretary of Nadigar Sangam and president, Tamil Film Producers Council Theatres, evoked a mixed response from multiplexes across Tamil Nadu.
On Friday, Vishal came out with a five-point proposal to theatres, which included issues such as reduction in online booking charges and parking charges as per government norms. He said that no cinema exhibitor can sell tickets above the government scheduled rates and food products should be sold only on MRP. He also said that viewers who walk into movie halls should be permitted to carry their own water. While some theatres have welcomed these suggestions, many lamented that this would hamper their operating costs.
A theatre owner in Chennai said, “If we allow water bottles from outside, it is a security issue as they might be spiked. This is more of a safety issue and we don’t want any untoward episodes.”
Seven theatres and multiplexes, to whom The Hindu spoke to, said that free drinking water was already provided in the theatres. “We have water in bubble top as well as other containers outside the screens,” said a multiplex owner.
Sources in the film fraternity said that the theatre industry will meet on Saturday to discuss these issues. “We will meet on Saturday and take a call on what best we can do from our end to ensure that consumers come to watch movies,” said a theatre owner.
Single screens in towns including Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and Tirupur said that these proposals ‘make no sense’. A theatre owner in Madurai said, “Our occupancies are very low and we can make money only on the first two days. If there are so many restrictions like this, my food and beverage segment will take a hit. We need to make some profit to pay our employees,” he said. “Many theatres in Madurai are old buildings and we need to keep renovating and upgrading the seating facilities. Such weird policies will wipe out our business, which is dying a slow death,” he added.
Low profitability
According to an analysis by Deloitte on the film industry in September 2016, single screen theatres in India have historically had low occupancy, low ticket realisations, and, hence, low profitability. This has led to shutdown of single screen cinemas, especially in small and rural towns which have experienced a decline from approximately 10,000 screens in 2009 to 6,000 currently. The report further pointed out that while multiplexes were being added in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, the pace of additions is one-third of the pace at which the single screen theatres are shutting down. .