The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : The show is over?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

The show is over?

By V.S. Palaniappan

COIMBATORE, JUNE 8. It's curtains for a number of cinemas in the region, thanks to their increasing non-viability and a gap in patronage. Increasing video/CD piracy and taxation problems seem to have accelerated the closure, say film exhibitors.

Closed theatres are fast turning into commercial complexes, marriage halls and godowns. Sixteen cinemas in Coimbatore and more than 100 touring talkies in and around Coimbatore region have folded up in the past few years. Recently, in the heart of the town, right next to the Gandhipuram mofussil bus stand, a huge complex was razed, leaving behind only memories of the roaring business it once did.

All four theatres in Valparai taluk were closed for over five years. In the Nilgiris district, seven at Udhagamandalam, six at Coonoor and two at Kotagiri have been closed. Now, the district has only four theatres. Of the 49 in Erode district, 13 have closed shop.

Piracy of the latest films has made people flock to CD libraries. The penetration of CD players in every household and the growth of CD libraries are another reason for the plight of the cinemas. Screening of pirated versions of the latest films aboard mofussil and omnibuses added to their woes.

Mushrooming satellite television channels, screening at least three movies a day in vernacular languages, in addition to the channels giving a feast of English movies, is also cited as a reason. These apart, there are a number of exclusive channels offering Hindi movies, stopping the north Indian population from going to theatres. The industry has realised that failure to modernise theatres with better seating and sound systems has caused problems for it. Modernisation and better upkeep would have sustained patronage perhaps for some more time, say sources.

The Government's decision to withdraw permission to collect maintenance charges, along with the admission fee, also led to poor upkeep and hygiene, contend theatre owners.

The fall in the number of new films led to an unhealthy competition among the exhibitors. The competition, in turn, led to producers and distributors seeking a minimum guarantee for the release of films. But the theatre owners did not have the wherewithal to compete.

Similarly, the liberty given to the theatres to fix admission fee has kept away audience from the low-income group. The exhibitors urged the government to consider introducing collection-based taxation instead of the compounding tax system.

This region is among the seven in the State — Chennai, NSC (North Arcot, South Arcot and Chengalpattu), Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchi, Madurai and Kanyakumari — which makes 20 per cent of the revenue of the tinsel industry.

The closure of cinema houses means denial of employment to several thousand families, the owners point out. However, Tirupur tells a different story. With a migrant labour force which cannot afford TV sets and VCDs, six new cinemas have come up in the hosiery town over the last few years.

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