Theatre strike called off

Theatre strike that began one month back has come to an end after a talk between minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar and representative of various cinema associations. The demand for wide release in all class theatres was the reason for strike. Producers and exhibitors stuck on their stand of wide release. Producers even suggested wide release as the only solution for the success of Malayalam films. A class theatre owners organisation, who stood against the wide release did not attend the meeting. They argued that most of the films are running only for an average period of two weeks and wide release would not help to change the situation. Eventhough minister decided to go ahead and called a meeting with representatives of producers, distributors and cine exhibitors associations and there formed a formula of solution, which helped to tackle stalemate.
After the meeting minister called a press meet, he said, wide release has been accepted by almost all associations and accordingly, 140 theatres, which were closed for a period will be opened from Tuesday. Wide release will be allowed after a study by a committee. The committee would submit a report to the Government. A classification committee will inspect the theatres and divide into zones, north, south and centre. A five member committee will be formed for the purpose within Friday, which includes a sound engineer, a cameraman, a civil engineer, a reporter and a representative of audience. This committee will go for inspection in each theatres excluding C class theatre from next month onwards. A booklet will be issued and grading will be done according to the marks obtained by the theatre owners for the questionnaire. Theatre owners can approach an appeal committee for any anomalies. Any organisation related to cinema association would not be allowed for any type of checking in theatres. If a C class theatre get reconstructed and enhanced would have to undergo a renewal checking by the committee.