Even if the Central government allows the reopening of cinema halls, Tamil film buffs may have to wait longer to watch their favourite stars on the big screen if the renewed conflict between theatre owners and producers remains unresolved.

The Tamil Film Active Producers’ Association (TFAPA) has written a strongly-worded letter to Tiruppur Subramanian, president, Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners’ Association, urging its members to agree to a list of demands, failing which producers would not release new films.

The letter from TFAPA, undersigned by association president Bharathiraaja and all other leading producers, said they had serious doubts over whether the revenue from a theatrical run would match what was possible in pre-pandemic times.

The producers categorically stated that they will not pay the Virtual Print Fee (VPF), which is normally paid by producers to digital cinema distribution companies (Qube Cinema Technologies and UFO Moviez) towards projector and digital distribution expenses.

Budget-based returns

They demanded a renegotiation of the percentage share of revenue, based on the film’s budget and where it is released — city, multiplexes, or single screens.

“We have been paying the VPF charges for more than 10 years, and this has exceeded the investment for a projector,” the letter read.

“With the producers not getting the required number of shows and screens for a movie release, the producer’s share of revenue is also very low. This has to be renegotiated and regularised according to the film’s budget and for city, multiplexes and single screens,” it added.

The producers also demanded a share in the revenue raised by theatres and digital distribution companies by playing advertisements on screen, arguing it is the producers who spend crores of rupees marketing the movies and bringing audiences to theatres.

They demanded that the theatres bring back the ‘holdover’ tradition, as it had become common for movies to be removed from screens despite doing well at the box office, and good films needed to be given a chance to pick up at the box office.