Theatres defy embargo

Theatres defy embargo
Times of India

The revolt is spreading: seven theatres in Bangalore defied the seven-week moratorium imposed on other language films in the state and released the brand new Aishwarya Rai English starrer Bride and Prejudice as well as the six-week old Hindi Dhoom.

This follows the low-key release of two movies — Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao! and Alien vs Predator — last Friday. Popcorn Khao!, however, is not being screened as collections have been extremely low. The new film releases have triggered off another episode of the ongoing Kannada producer vs other language exhibitor saga: five producers led by the association president Basant Kumar Patil paid a ‘surprise visit’ to one of the theatres playing Bride and Prejudice.

“The owners told us they were not playing the new movie, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) also said so. But we have caught the owners lying. We will submit a report, along with tickets for the film which we purchased as proof, to both the film chamber and the state government’s high power committee on Saturday and demand action on this violation of their decisions,’’ Patil told The Times of India.

The producers are also seeking an immediate meeting of the high power committee, headed by additional chief secretary (finance) K.P. Pandey to resolve the issue. The role of the trouble-shooter and Mandya MP Ambarish, appears to have diminished. His much-publicised meeting with the Karnataka Film Exhibitors Federation is postponed to after the Bidar bypoll on Oct 13, for which he is to campaign.

However, Federation chairman R.P. Odugoudar said over phone from Hubli: “The situation has already come to normal here and we are releasing all movies simultaneously. We always said the moratorium applies only to Bangalore. We will only discuss our demand of service charges with Ambarish.’’ The producers also maintain that Ambarish was no longer a reference point. “Everyone is using his name as an excuse to create confusion. We will now only look to the high power committee,’’ Patil contended.

Bangalore exhibitors are planning legal action on the issue. Further, the simultaneous release of the Chiranjeevi starrer Shankardada MBBS — the Telugu version of Munnabhai MBBS — is on the anvil next Friday, which is set to clash with the release of Kannada movie Kalasipalya, starring Darshan.

Other movies, which have completed seven weeks and are expected to release next week are: English — Exorcist and Anaconda 2; Telugu — Gudumba Shankar, Gowri, 123, Sy,
all of which are about four weeks old; Tamil — Madurai, which is distributed by KFCC president H.D. Gangaraju, which will complete seven weeks.