With movie theatres allowed to reopen from October 15 across the country, theater owners in Karnataka are in the middle of a standoff with Sandalwood producers over releasing big budget films. Film producers in Karnataka say that they will not release big budget films if the theaters have to operate at 50% capacity and this has put theater owners in a spot.
Speaking to TNM, KV Chandrashekar, President of the Karnataka Cinema Theater Owners' Association said that so far 70 films have been censored and are ready for release but movie producers are not willing to release big budget films, which drive crowds to theaters.
The Union Government on Thursday announced that movie theaters and multiplexes can reopen from October 15. For the last seven months, the theaters have been shut due to the ensuing pandemic and theater owners and Sandalwood film producers in Karnataka are facing a standoff regarding reopening theaters. The Union government had stated that theaters can reopen at 50% capacity. However, the Karnataka government has not issued standard operating procedures that theaters owners should follow.
"The film producers, who had participated in the meeting with the Union Government last week had suggested that the theaters be allowed to operate at 75% capacity at least. When producers invest in films, they calculate returns based on the general practise that theaters will operate at 100% occupancy. We would rather wait for theaters to operate at 100% capacity than release the films now," said GK Ramakrishna, President of the Karnataka Film Producers' Association.
Theater owners say that this will have an adverse impact on many theater owners and also those who have leased theaters to run cinemas. Bar Suresh, owner of Cinesquare Savitha Talkies in Bengluru's Malleshwaram, who previously owned eight single screens in the city, says that 50-60% of single screen theater owners have leased theaters to third parties, who manage and operate these establishments in return for a monthly rent.
"Each theater pays a minimum of Rs 1 lakh to theater owners. This is considering that they operate at full capacity. Only big budget films drive crowds to fill up theaters. Prior to the lockdown, there was only 30-40% capacity for small budget films. If the producers want to release only small-budget films then those who run theaters by leasing them, will not be able to reopen," Bar Suresh said.
Speaking to TNM, DR Jairaj, President of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce says that the association heads and the film chamber heads have a meeting scheduled with the Karnataka government officials next week to chalk out a plan for reopening theaters. He says that film producers are waiting for an SOP from the state government to then take the next step in deciding whether it would be profitable to release big budget films.
"Robot, Kotigobba 3, Yuvarathna, Salaga are all big budget films ready for release. But many theater owners are also scared of opening without the assurance that these films would be released. Some one has to take the risk of taking the first step," Jairaj adds.
GV Chandrashekar, who also owns Veeresh Talkies on Magadi Road, says that theater owners are depending on film producers to release big budget films so that they can begin to recover losses. "Theater owners and lessors are yet to come to an understanding. Most likely, they will reduce rents. But this is also an uncertainty. Theater owners and lessors are calling back their employees next week to clean up theaters and ready them for reopening. If they decide not to reopen then many employees will lose jobs," he adds.
Bar Suresh says that 50% of the theater owners or lessors have reduced the pay of their employees by half during the last seven months and in rural areas, many owners have had to stop paying employees due to huge losses. "Not all theaters will reopen on October 15. Multiplexes will but theaters in rural areas are not likely to reopen as they have huge unpaid electricity bills piled up," he adds.
During the last seven months, theater owners have had to pay monthly electricity bills and also property taxes to retain their licenses. However, many have not paid these bills due to lack of revenue. The theater owners and the film chamber had approached the state government multiple times over the last few months and requested that payment of these bills and taxes be waived for the period in which the establishments were shuttered.
"We have to speak to the government and next week, we will request them to take our request seriously as most theaters in rural areas and even Bengaluru will not be able to reopen if the government does not waive electricity bills and property tax," Jairaj says.
Jairaj further states that all theaters are highly unlikely to reopen on October 15 and can only do so once the association heads and the film chamber holds multiple rounds of talks to decide on a reopening plan that is suitable for all parties involved.