CHENNAI: Hours after a survey of the South Indian film industry found Tamil cinema to be relying the most on theatre collections in south Indian states, a loud call was made by the film fraternity to the government to roll back the ceiling on film ticket rates. This was at the inaugural day of the Media and Entertainment Business Conclave, organised by FICCI Frames, here on Thursday. “The state must see cinema as an entertainment business, not as an essential service. The rates of films, hence, need not be regulated and such intervention should stop. Here, cinema is seen as a political platform too, and not just a business. Hence the confusion,” said actor Kamal Haasan, chairperson of the conclave, chairing a session on problems ailing the industry. Advocating progressive pricing, L Suresh, honorary secretary of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, said big films should be allowed to charge more for the first few weeks of release, while smaller films should be made available to people at ticket rates like Rs 20- Rs 40. “Governing this aspect of money-making in the State seems like a law of the jungle,” he said. Premium films should be premium-priced, argued Suresh Shenoy, CEO, Shenoy Cinemax.Currently, ticket rates in the state cannot exceed Rs 120, while it can range from Rs 85 to Rs 120 based on fulfilling certain infrastructure requirements. The present ceiling was prescribed by the DMK government in 2007.Earlier, Governor Dr K Rosaiah released the FICCI-Deloitte South Indian Media And Industry Report, which revealed that the Tamil film industry relied the highest on theatrical collections for its revenues. A whopping 75 per cent of the total revenues earned by the Tamil film industry came from domestic theatrical collections, as against 51 per cent in Kannada, 70 per cent in Malayalam and 72 per cent in Telugu film industries. Cable and satellite rights-driven revenues mattered least to Tamil (10 per cent of total revenues), while that amount was double in the other Southern states.During the inauguration of the two-day conclave, Ronnie Screwalla, founder chairman and CEO, UTV Group, noted the urgent need of the industry to understand the demands of the 15-24 age-group that wanted interactive, personalised content and sought instant gratification. SA Chandrasekaran, president of the Tamil Film Producers Council, called for big corporate houses to take up small productions too, as nearly 95 per cent films made here are small-budget.
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