As theatres in Karnataka are set to open their doors on October 15, Sandalwood producers have decided not to release big budget films yet. Karnataka Producers’ Association President GK Ramakrishna told TNM that last week several meetings were held with Sandalwood producers and the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, where producers decided not to release big budget films when theatres reopen on October 15.
Currently there are seven big budget films ready for release. Producer of Ranam, Kanakapura Srinivas, has issued advertisements in regional language papers stating that the film would be released in October. Starring Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Chetan and Chiranjeevi Sarja, Srinivas maintains that he is hopeful of good ticket sales.
“Someone should come forward to release big budget films. I am hopeful that people will come and watch,” he said.
However, other producers are apprehensive about releasing the films soon after theatres reopen. GK Ramakrishna maintained that the producers want to see how Ranam performs at the box office before deciding on releasing the films.
“We have invested a huge amount of money into these films. Unlike other means of entertainment like going to pubs, we are uncertain about people going to cinemas. They will have to be in the theatre for over two hours with air conditioning. We don’t know how the response would be. So we have decided to wait,” Ramakrishna added.
The producers have also requested K Sera Sera and Qube Cinema, the largest projector distributors to movie theatres, to waive the fees payable for screening films.
“For every film, we have to pay a standard amount of money to these companies. They are the ones who have the movies on servers and they have given projectors to theatres through which films are screened from their servers. We have asked them to waive this fee so the producers can have a higher profit margin,” Ramakrishna added.
Theatre owners, however, said that they would face huge losses as big budget films are not going to release in October. “But we have to persevere. Unless we open for business, we will face more losses. We hope viewers come to theatres so the producers will be motivated to release the films,” said KV Chandrashekar, President of the Karnataka Theatre Owners Association.