Multiplex owner Tirupur M Subramaniam has resigned from the post of the president of the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association citing ‘personal commitments’. In his resignation letter, Subramaniam, who is also the owner of Sri Sakthi Cinemas, thanked everyone who supported him, during his tenure as head of the association.
While no reference was made to any other reasons for his resignation, Subramaniam stirred controversy in October when he spoke to the Tamil channel Polimer News about the allegations of a scam in the box office numbers for Vijay-starrer Leo.
In the weeks following the film’s release on October 19, multiple allegations surfaced that the box office numbers, particularly overseas, were being overstated.
The hashtag #LeoScam was also trending on X (formerly Twitter). It was alleged that the supposed collection of Rupees 300 crores in India and 500 crores in global ticket sales was false. At the time, Subramaniam had said in his interview to Polimer News that SS Lalit Kumar who heads Seven Screen Studios was, “Carrying out malpractice in overseas bookings. In order to be able to produce Vijay’s next film as well he is booking overseas tickets himself even if it costs Rupees 5 crores.”
At the time of Leo’s release another controversy broke out when the distributors, also Seven Screen Studios, demanded a higher percentage of the money made on ticket sales from theatres. Theatre owners and the distributors were locked in this tussle even until the evening before the film’s release, leading to outrage among Vijay fans. The Tamil Nadu government’s refusal to allow early morning shows before 9am further added to the controversy at the time.
Subramaniam has since the film’s release, spoken to multiple news channels criticising the distributors, saying that the higher demand for a share in ticket sales was hurting theatre owners.
It is unclear at present who will be replacing Subramianiam as president.