DISTRIBUTORS DEMAND
A FAIR HEARING

GS Mayawala
(General secretary, Film Distributors Council)
Rationalisation of ET is our first demand from the state and central governments. The steep rate of taxes have come in the way of the film industry’s growth. The state governments levy ET ranging from 30 to 150 per cent, and as you can see, there is a considerable variation in the rates charged among the states. In the southern states, the rates are comparatively lower, while in the northern states, ET is too high, which has also crippled the film industry in states like MP, Maharashtra, Delhi, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Assam. There are about 5000 cinemas in the Hindi belt with a 70 per cent population, while the South has 7000 cinemas catering to 30 per cent of the population. And the figures speak for themselves.

Films which earn foreign exchange like other products are not equated with other merchandise. The advantage of Section 80 HHC which is available to the exporting community is not being made available to the film industry on the grounds that films do not constitute merchandise. It’s high time the benefit was extended to the film industry as well.

We are also demanding that distribution and licensing of cinema houses should be placed under the concurrent list, and that institutional finance for film production be made available to genuine filmmakers. Reliefs in custom duty and abolition of CVD/Excise on import of the cine positive and negative unexposed film is another key demand. We also demand from the government that problems relating to shooting abroad (like getting adequate foreign exchange) be removed.

Surendra Pal
(Film Jagat Enterprises)
Among the key problems plaguing the distribution trade today are the spiralling prices of feature films. In fact, the prices seem to shoot up by the day. At this rate films will soon be out of reach of the average distributor.

Ironically, there is no scope for a B-Grade film today. Only extraordinary films do good business at the box-office. Audience tastes have changed a lot. Earlier, most films managed to do at least an average business. Now, films are either superhits or superflops. There is no such thing as an average film at the box-office now. Only extraordinary films like Titanic bring in the audience to the theatres.

Another problem is the rising ticket rates, which have already gone out of reach of the average audience. Cinema owners refuse to offer good facilities to the viewing public. Airconditioners are hardly ever used full time, and parking space is becoming a major problem in most theatres. When Delhi’s Chanakya Theatre hiked its admission rates recently, soon other theatres followed suit. What worked for Chanakya didn’t work for them, because, unlike them, Chanakya has several factors going for it, such as its prime location, the good films it chooses to screen and the other facilities it provides.

I think the idea of refusing to buy films that are priced more than Rs 70-80 lakh is practical. A producer is always in a demanding position. If a distributor refuses to buy an extraordinary film, other distributors are bound to be willing to pay the producer his price.

Vijay Narayan Seth
(Jagat Talkies Enterprises)
The future of cinema is bleak if things don’t change in its favour soon. The biggest problem facing filmdom today is the heavy taxation in different forms and guises. Satellite channels have virtually taken over the entertainment scene today. Ironically, the satellite industry has been spared of taxes of all kinds. But the satellite channels still depend heavily on cinema for their software. Most of their programmes are film-based.

Both state and central governments continue to give us the proverbial cold shoulder. If we approach the union I&B ministry about ET, we are told that ET is a state subject, and that we should approach the state governments instead. But the state governments are too happy collecting huge revenue by way of ET, to be willing to forgo it, or be bothered about us.

It’s time the industry realised that increasing admission rates is no lasting solution to its woes. In fact, in many cinemas, rates are so high that even middle-class families would think twice before going to watch a film. Tickets should be made cheaper, and the rates could vary from show to show. Tickets for morning shows could be made cheaper than evening shows, as in the Western countries.

We will also have to cut down the prices of films. Salaakhen (starring Sunny Deol and Raveena Tandon) for instance, was sold for about Rs 2.25 crore for the Delhi-UP territory. For the distributor to recover that kind of money, the film would have to do a whopping business.

No, I don’t think asking distributors not to pay producers more than Rs 70-80 lakh for a film, is advisable. This is a free trade. You just cannot impose restrictions on people.

Cinema owners are facing serious difficulties in running their halls. Converting theatres into shopping complexes isn’t an option for most owners, because of the huge financial outlay it would require. Electricity rates have doubled in the recent past. Most of the time, the attendance at theatres is no more than 25 per cent of seating capacity. How then can you expect a theatre owner to run his aircondtioners all the time?