The Hindu : Kerala News : Cinemas to remain closed from tomorrow

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Sunday, Mar 27, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Cinemas to remain closed from tomorrow

By Our Kochi Bureau

KOCHI, MARCH 26. The Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation has decided to close down releasing centres in the State from Monday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of federation office-bearers held in Kochi on Saturday to protest against the film distributors' move to implement new rates with effect from March 18. Representatives of the federation said that they would not accept the new terms and conditions mooted by the distributors.

The Film Distributors Association (Kerala) has decided to change the `holdover', publicity contribution, distributors' share and `batta.' According to the new terms, 80 per cent of one show's gross collection is to be paid as holdover per every four shows in air-conditioned theatres. If there are only three shows, the share will be 60 per cent. For non-air-conditioned theatres, it will be 60 per cent of one show per four shows and 45 per cent, if there are only three shows.

A film can be changed only if it becomes `holdover' for two continuous days. Breaks owing to hartal, motor strike, natural calamities and one-day cricket matches cannot be considered as `holdover.'

The distributor's share for Malayalam films in air-conditioned theatres till `holdover' will be 60 per cent; it will be 65 per cent for non-air-conditioned theatres. For other language films, it will be 55 per cent for air-conditioned theatres and 60 per cent for non-air-conditioned theatres. The minimum distributor's share for films exhibiting after `holdover' and repeat run will be 40 per cent. The publicity contribution for films being screened in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Kozhikode will be seven-and-a-half per cent of the exhibitor's share.

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