Not supporting theatre owners' indefinite strike against GST: TN Producers' Council announces

Following the implementation of the GST from July 1, theatre owners in Tamil Nadu had called for an indefinite strike from July 3 to protest the central government's tax reform. 

However, this move has thrown the film industry into a quandary, with producers and directors pointing out that they will face heavy losses because of the strike. Director R Kannan whose film Ivan Thanthiran hit the screens on Friday posted an emotional audio message, requesting support to call off the strike as he didn't know how to earn the money spent on the film.

The Tamil Nadu Film Producers' Council has now issued a press release, expressing their disagreement with the decision taken by the theatre owners. While acknowledging that the GST would further squeeze the struggling industry, the Council has pointed out that the stakeholders in the film industry were not consulted and that the decision was made by the theatre owners themselves.

Stating that around 20 producers/filmmakers would be "totally affected", the Council's press release says that the state government, too, would need time to understand their demands and act on it.

"Keeping this in mind, we announce that we will not be able to immediately support the strike called from Monday," the release says. The Council has requested the theatre owners to reconsider their decisions, paying heed to what the members from the film industry had to say.