Following the recent piracy issue of the film Premam that rocked Mollywood, in a supposed show of solidarity, the Kerala Film Exhibitor’s Federation led by Liberty Basheer shut down theatres for two days. But a faction of the producers and distributors claim that this closing of theatres was a sham and a bid to pull wool over the eyes of the public and the industry. They say the actual reason for the closing was a bid to interrupt the wide release of the multi-lingual film Baahubali, across all centres in the state, a first for Mollywood.
Wide release of films is the norm in neighbouring states but Kerala has a different model. A recent ruling by the Competition Commission of India has seen the wide release of Baahubali simultaneously across all A, B and C class theatres ensuring that certain A class theatres do not get an unfair and exclusive head start on the revenues earned. Things have been sorted out for the moment and Baahubali had been wide released in 150 theatres in Kerala.
Producer Suresh Kumar has been very vocal about the unfair advantages some A class theatres have over others and he says, “Earlier there was just the Kerala Cine Exhibitor’s Federation but it split to form the Kerala Film Exhibitor’s Federation which has several A class theatres in major cities and municipalities and which monopolised the new releases leaving the B and C class theatres in the cold because these theatres could screen films only two or three weeks after their release.”
The downside to this monopoly was that a large number of B and C theatres closed down and others went for a major revamp. Suresh adds, “Even after some B and C theatres upgraded their facilities including the seating, screens, sound effects and AC, they were denied simultaneous release of films.” Suresh says, “The close down of theatres is just a drama; in fact if there was a wide release of Premam, the whole issue of piracy would not have happened. The closure has affected the film’s revenues and it is a kind of arm twisting by the faction led by Liberty Basheer.”
A source from the Baahubali camp whose first day release was affected says, “We were planning to release the film in 150 centres. I really cannot understand why Kerala cannot embrace and welcome wide releases when the whole of South India is doing so? I have seen Kerala fans travelling to Chennai to watch the film on the first day because of the deadlock here.”
Director/actor Renji Panicker says, “The piracy rate in other industries is less because of wide release which is always good for the industry. When a film is launched, the media attention, hype, marketing and attention that it initially gets can be transferred equally to all centres irrespective of their class ensuring good runs in all centres. Even in rural areas, the theatre owners are upgrading facilities because they know that only a well equipped cinema hall will attract the audience. Irrespective of the class, the audience goes only where there are good facilities. One should not resist the advantages that technology provides and the industry should warmly welcome the concept of wide release in Kerala.”
A veteran distributor says on condition of anonymity, “The collections will definitely increase for each film through wide release. A faction of the Exhibitor’s Federation has an agenda of furthering their own business interests. Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur is where the major collections happen and where the Exhibitors Federation monopolises the collections through their A class theatres and charge an extra for services like food, staff and AC they provide.”
Actor/ producer Vijay Babu says, “Content is king and distribution is kingdom! The financial risk we take is a huge one and in a market like Kerala if we get more returns on a film initially from various centres, it is always safer for the producer. It is a workable model and issues like piracy and satellite issues can be addressed. By the time a film has run its course in A class centres, there is no point in releasing in B and C class centres because you do not get a huge revenue. The advantage of wide release is that more movies will get time for release; a large audience can see the film and the producer can earn revenue within a week from all centres.” After all this, Liberty Basheer, who has rubbed many the wrong way, says, “We are supporting the wide release of films!”
