First day, no show

First day, no show

The agreement means that Hindi movies— Naach, Veer-Zara and Aitraz — will not hit the screens on November 12.

Deccan Herald

Those first-day-first-show goers can forget about thronging the theatres this weekend to see new non-Kannada films. The exhibitors as well as producers and directors have unanimously agreed not to simultaneously release any new non-Kannada movies this Friday.

This means that the new Hindi movies that were scheduled for release — Naach, Veer-Zara and Aitraz — will not hit the screens on November 12. Only those movies that have met the three-week moratorium will be released this Friday, as no other non-Kannada films have met this criterion. However, new Kannada movies Nalla and Santhosha will be released as slated on Friday.

Following the decision by the exhibitors on no simultaneous releases, the proposed protest by producers, Kannada film stars including matinee idol Raj Kumar, representatives of various Kannada organisations and farmers’ associations scheduled on Friday has been called off.

Speaking to Deccan Herald in Bangalore on Wednesday, Ms Parvathamma Rajkumar, who was supposed to spearhead the protest said: “We have decided to call off the protest as there are no new releases. A meeting will soon be convened between the producers, directors and artists with the government to jot out the future course of action.”

Kannada Film Producers’ Association President Basant Kumar Patil said the protest has been called off only because of an assurance given by KFCC that there would be simultaneous release of non-Kannada films.

A decision on no simultaneous releases was taken in a meeting convened between Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and the exhibitors across the State in Bangalore on Wednesday.