Marathi film producers to go the Bollywood way

Plan to go on strike from Aug 14 if exhibitors refuse to restructure existing profit sharing arrangement

Now that the standoff between Bollywood film producers and multiplex cinema owners over the sharing of profits has been sorted out, it is the turn of the Marathi film producers to demand their pound of flesh from all cinema houses multiplex and single screen in the state. They have threatened to go on strike and not release any of their films from August 14 if their demands are not met.



Ignored lot
According to Ajay Sarpotdar, producer and president of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM), theatre owners ignore the entertainment tax exemption they have been given and charge service tax when they do not even maintain their theatres properly. "Even at talukas like Karad, the producers have to pay Rs 25,000 as weekly rent for their films," he said.

Sheer injustice
All these expenses eat into 80 per cent of the producers' profits. "Producers get only 15 to 20 per cent of their profits as their share, which is a grave injustice. This tradition of charging exorbitant rent on films has been going on for a long time," Sarpotdar said. He added that producers make films on limited budgets.

"We are all frustrated. The question that bogs us is whether we are making films only to fill the coffers of the exhibitors and distributors," Sarpotdar said.

Give good films
Meanwhile, Sadanand Mohal, president, Pune Exhibitors' Association, refuted the charges. "This is a business and film producers should give us good quality films that make commercial sense. Film distributors should stop exploiting others. We can earn only if the film is a hit," Mohal said.
"Also, this is a wrong time to go on a strike when 43 Bollywood films are queuing for release this year," Mohal reasoned.