Theatre strike is a shame for all Malayalis : Innocent

The ongoing theatre strike has now entered the third week and it seems like it will last for few more days. This is a huge set back for the Malayalam film industry as many highly anticipated movies scheduled to release during the holiday season had to be postponed.

There is still no official regarding the release of Malayalam movies, while other language movies are running successfully in theatres in Kerala. The theatre owners’ decision to screen other language movies without screening Malayalam films was met with severe criticism from many corners. Recently, actor/ politician Innocent came out with staunch criticism against the Exhibitors Federation.

Actor and Parliament member Innocent has said that it is the every Malayali should feel ashamed at the theatre owners’ audacity to exhibit movies from other languages while blocking the screening of Malayalam films. He is also the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).

“If the same had happened in any other state, we can imagine what would happen to the theatre owners. As the president of AMMA, I’m hurt by the shame Malayalam language had to face. There are strong allegations that the theatre strike was triggered after information regarding the government’s plan to install ticket-vending machines in theatres were leaked. There are also other allegations about irregularities in taxes paid by the theatres to the local body organisations and in the Rs 3 collected from film viewers as welfare fund. If these allegations are true, being a responsible public representative, I will look into the matter seriously. Many demands of the local bodies are met with the cinema tax. So it is the necessity of every grama panchayath to install the ticket vending machines in theatres”, said Innocent.

The theatre strike started on Decemeber 16 after the theatre owners association, Exhibitiors Federation’s demand for 50% share of theatrical collections for new releases was turned down by the producers association and distributors citing huge losses as the reason.