Theatre strike called off in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

HYDERABAD: The indefinite strike by the Telugu Film Joint Action Committee (JAC) was called off late on Wednesday night. The JAC had discussions with the Digital Service Providers (DSPs), including Qube, UFO, PXD and K Sera Sera, and decided to resume the screening of regional films from Thursday. Some theatres, however, will open on Friday with the release of the Vijay Deverakonda- starrer ‘Ye Mantram Vesave’ in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

“The issues have all been sorted out and the strike has been called off in the Telugu States. The screening of films will resume from Thursday. Some theatres have opted to resume their operations on Friday with the screening of new releases,” said D Suresh Babu, Convener of the JAC. The veteran producer expressed happiness over the agreement reached between both the parties over VPF (Virtual Print Fee) charges. “We are happy with the rate revision.

On an average, the DSPs have agreed to reduce the charges by 19-21 per cent. However, for some films, it may go up to 22 per cent. The flat rate which was earlier capped at `22,500 has been reduced to `20,000. We have categorised the digital cinema rate into several slots depending on their run on a full, weekly and slide basis. The tariff will vary for big films, small films, and also for the rerun of old films. These rates will be effective from April 1 owing to the accounting practices of the DSPs.

Within one or two weeks, we will finalise the official rate card. We are also pushing for certain other conditions, details of which we will be shared soon.” Suresh Babu said the DSPs had also agreed to their demands of confining on-screen advertising to 10 minutes and to screening two trailers with the main film without charging extra money.