Update : Santhanam's Biskoth ,Mahesh Babu's Sarileru Neekevvaru dubbed film and Adult sex comedy for Deepavali release in TamilNadu theater - Qube fees withdrawn

 

 R Kannan directed Santhanam starrer Biskoth , Mahesh Babu- Kajal- Vijayshanthi Sarileru Neekevvaru duubed Tamil version will release on Deepavali in Tamil Nadu theaters. Distributors RockFort Entertainment Muruganandan has confirmed that sequel to Irutu Araiyil Murattu Kuthu titled Irandam Kuthu will hit on Diwali. In English it means second poke will be releasing on November 14 as first film post Lockdown in theaters. . Meanwhile Producers lobby led by Bharathiraaja has stuck to the demand that VPF be abolished to which  Qube has agreed for a nil fee tiil December end. Producers are planning to release the biggies in mid January for Pongal. Before that they wanted the issue settled. Even the groups contesting the recognised Tamil Film Producers Council elections are canvassing on the poll plank that VPF will be abolished, if elected. 

  First part of the adult sex comedy- horror movie ,made at a shoestring and shooting combined with another film in Thailand,  was a bumper hit. Theaters were mighty pleased. The hero Gautham Karthik, son of veteran actor Karthik, received flak. The producer who belongs to Suriya camp too faced brickbats. The two heroines- Yashika Aanand continued with her skin show mostly on Instagram as there was a lockdown and Vaibhav Sandilya has not been heard after this hit.

Now the director Santosh decided that it does not matter who plays the lead. He took up the job of playing the lead. He got two Mumbai girls -Karishma and Akiriti and headed for Philippines. The first part title translated in English means `Wild ( or rough) poke in a dark room’. Now it is `Second poke ( also jab)’. The poster tells it all. It is an adult sex comedy loaded with double meaning dialogues and a voyeuristic camera stuff and in the first part a horror angle too was thrown in. Now that those from Class X onwards have been given permission to visit campus to clear doubts, most of them will be seen in the theaters. Yet another plus for Chennai theaters is that the Marina beach has been locked out and now theaters will be the haven for young lovers.

Kerala exhibitors want ET waived along with fixed current charges and building taxes. Producers want actors to cut salaries by at least 25%. A few small budget films that did not match the OTT criteria are waiting to release. The magnum opus Marakkar of Mohanlal will take a shot at box office by Christmas. 

In Andhra, the scenario is no different and they have no new Telugu films of any big name and hope that the Hindi - English films will keep them going till normalcy comes about. In Karnataka, the situation is better as some Kannada films that were released just before lockdown had a good response and it will be re-released. Here again it is the Hindi- English films that keep the theaters in Karnataka going.

According to Mumbai sources, there is `Sooryavanshi’ of Akshay Kumar- Devgn which is a cop story series from Rohit Shetty. Other is the film on India winning the Cricket World Cup titled `83 ‘with Ranveer Shorey. as the lead. Akshay's OTT film `Lakshmi Bomb’ releases on November 9th. It means that Sooryavanshi will get only two weeks run and with only 50% occupancy. As IPL is on should 83, a Cricket sports film get released and will it get audience is yet another worry.

The first Hollywood film ready to release is Tenet. This according to trade will be a dud in theaters that are not multiplexes and will score big on IMAX screens. The story line is confusing and only point that it will keep audience glued is the visuals and technical wizardry. Next in line is Death of Nile due on October 23. It is a second in Branagh’s Hercule Poirot series, preceded by Murder on the Orient Express. But in November ,Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond in No Time to Die is coming.

It looks like that the theaters reopening has only opened a new set of issues.

 

Theaters to open in October - New conditions revealed

 

From October, the theaters will be given permission to open and curtains to go up. The Central Government after a series of meetings with the stakeholders – multiplex chains and the big production studios of Hollywood  that operate in India and with a few Bollywood- biggies has drawn a blueprint.

In the first round of unlocking of theaters across India, the multiplexes alone will be allowed to open. They will screen only Hollywood films and Bollywood films. They will have to sell  tickets for  only 50 % capacity .. All standard operating procedures for COVID prevention will be followed. Food and drinking water will be sourced through reputed eateries that have a tie-up with food delivery aggregators.  Ticket rates cannot be increased to cover the loss due to less seat capacity.

Reason for Hollywood and Bollywood films given permission is that the first category is not a big puller at box office and hence crowds coming in huge numbers are not going to take place. Second category is the Hindi films. There is no Star film awaiting release and only small independent production houses are having films to release.

This phase will have a shift in November. All single screen ones whose owners that have deep pockets in the rural and semi urban areas will open. These too would follow 50% capacity and COVID SOP procedures. This would bring in regional films in large numbers to the screens. The December unlocking is to do away with cap on seating capacity and follow only SOP procedures. This however has a rider. If any rise of outbreak of Covid takes place and origin is a movie theater, the seating cap will be back or shift to total lockdown of movie halls. State Governments will take a call on bringing back lockdown of theaters.

The Dusshera season and puja holidays will be the first chance for movie halls to put things in order. In November, if nothing happens that point fingers to movie halls, then Deepavali will see the regional biggies back on screens.  By Christmas – New Year, it should be business as usual. Movie lovers should now hope that it is not subjected to any fresh `Act of God” .

Will Bharathiraaja and his Boys bring relief to producers ?

 

The OTT effect has hit Tamil Nadu Theaters in a new way. They are now hit by an old issue that remained unsolved. The newly formed Producers body headed by Bharathiraaja has taken up  the issue of paying Visual Print Fee (VPF) by producers to service providers Qube and UFO MovieZ to screen films in theaters. They have asked for a share in the booking fee collected by online portals for tickets and from the advertisements that come with the digital prints. Coming on the heels of the news that Centre will allow theaters to open from October 1^st, Tamil Nadu theaters are in for a long fight. As OTT  emerged as an alternative, theaters are in a tight corner.

Service providers say that the fees charged is lowest in the World. The producers in Tamil Nadu say that the service providers have recovered their investments on eqipments over a span of ten years and continuing VPF makes no sense. Hollywood Studios movies that are not made in India do not pay any VPF and those that it produces in India are only paying this fee. The service providers have not drawn any agreement with theaters about spending on upgrading equipments in India. In Hollywood the studios paid for upgrading and so the equipment cost was paid up in 5 years. Hollywood also paid a small percentage for new systems in place.

Digital service providers say that it has to pay 30% import duty for equipments. It means more time to recover investment. As for South India,, it had reduced 18-20% fees after last strike. The cost of mastering, including last minute jobs, the cost of delivery and the cost of key management are all charged separately   elsewhere globally but not in India and this charges alone if borne by the producer would equal the VPF is the argument. After the South Filmdom strike, Qube agreed to reduce by 50% the fees for a 6 mth time and reverted back to 18-20% drop. Digital providers also agreed to follow the E Cinema pattern of charging per show.

In Hollywood, Cinedigm and DCIP VPF contracts are between studios that have a line of releases and AMC, Regal and Cinemark, the three largest exhibitors in the US. In India, there is no contract with the multiplex chains and there is not many studios that has a steady supply of movies. It is mostly one time producers and no deal can be arrived at. Only Scrabble Entertainment and Qube Cinema signed VPF contracts with the Hollywood Studios.

Theaters say that it is a matter between the Qube -UFO MovieZ  and producers .and they have no role to play. It means that the producers will have to sort it out with them. Now what remains is that the sharing of advt revenue and online ticket booking charges. If Qube / UFO refuses to scrap VPF  charges or reduce it, producers will have to move to PXD from the Prasad Group, KSS, TSR ProVA, One Source Media, Aerox and K Cinemas which are some of the other digital cinema integrators currently operating in India. However, only Scrabble Entertainment and Qube Cinema signed VPF contracts with the Hollywood Studios.

The new producers body is to ask Qube and UFO to sign a deal with them and treat them as they treat a Hollywood studio. Their members will keep a steady supply of movies. The VPF should be scrapped. If not the theaters should pick the bill. Multiplexes might not agree to join and if it means a further lockdown. The last strike was withdrawn after some exhibitors filed a complaint against the striking producers with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). After a preliminary examination, the CCI decided that the complaint indeed had merits and called for a full examination of the matter. This is an ongoing matter. Though the move is expected to bring relief to producers, small theaters might have to close down or sell out to multiplexes. The VPF has been a poll plank for groups contesting the Film Producer Council polls but nothing has come out of it. The new body is only joining of active producers and they will not issue any directive. Even if issues, CCI can at best say it does not hold good and it is for Tamil Film Producers Council, the officially body that has to take a call. The official body is at present filled with majority of those who are in sleep mode.

CCI has a complaint by Ronnie Screwala against multiplex chains that he says are colluding with Qube and UFO in VPF issue. He has Disney/Fox Star, Viacom 18, Jio Studios, T-Series, Zee Studios and , distributor Anil Thadani, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur (President of the Producers Guild Of India) and producer Mukesh Bhatt  joining his existing complaint with CCI. Ronnie has also found support from the Producers Guild of India & Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association.

A theater owner reveals the scenario if the curtains are up before Corona goes away

My friend, an owner of a standalone theater in the suburbs of Chennai conducted a mock drill to see what problems he would face when public are allowed to come in after going through all procedures spelt out by IMCR and WHO. The following lessons that he learnt are – It takes 30 minutes for 300 persons (50% of the total capacity is only allowed)  to be screened and sanitized  to enable them to see the show. If more than 50 % of them came in just 15 minutes before the show?.  Giving out pre-ordered snacks to ticket holders in the short time before the show started and that too without a mix-up is another hassle. All this with security guys ensuring that the patrons maintained a safe distance to get the parcels.

Should the patrons come with masks or should it be given by the theater? If so who pays for it as one cannot give away some masks that are available off the handcarts. Who pays for the sanitizers? Those taking temp readings should be wearing PPE kits that have to be changed every day. More expenses.

Inside the auditorium, the ushers have to ensure that there was a seat gap between two. Doors should be kept open or shut and AC kept on? If it were kept open, then huge pedestal fans and wall mounted fans are  needed and the whirring sound cannot be silenced. The next best option is for the theater to leave the AC on for some time before the crowd came in. Once again the staff has to see that the pre-ordered snacks through apps are delivered to the patrons at the seat during interval.

Extra personnel with PPE kits and machines to spray the rest rooms and inside the auditorium after the show are needed. A continuous vigil is needed inside the theater to see that social distancing is kept. If the middle seat is removed for now and later the Govt says it is ok (as in case of airlines) it will have to be refitted and the seats are not any local make for an ordinary carpenter to do it.

The theater made money out of its own popcorn brand and beverages sold without MRP. Now the food app guys have to agree to deliver the stuff at theater rates. Next option is allow parcels from counters. The question is will public obey the idea to come early for a show, like a check in time for flights? If they come late, can they be denied entry?

Coming to business point. With 50% occupancy, a theater- distributor will need at least 50 days to make profits. By this 50 days. Online pirated movies will come and so also HD quality DVD.  The results of theater  owner talk with public is that except for a small 10% , no one will come to see a re-run or of a non star film when the curtains lift up gain as they feel that they have go through lot of inconvenience and risks ( they say seeing films in theater is a risk). Only a star studded film can bring life back to theaters is the consensus. Most of the patrons   have taken to viewing films on OTT from the comfort of their homes and though they are not pleased with the OTT releases like Ponmagal Vandhal and Penguin, other language films, especially the Malayalam and Hindi films have caught their fancy. Many of them have even been hooked to web series.

As my friend says that it is better to wait till the epidemic is over. He points out that Suriya’s SP is the only film as of now that is ready and can bring public to take a look or take a risk. But after that? Even Hollywood films are coming out only in November and many theaters in USA are still shut , even after getting a green signal, as they can’t find people to come in to see re-runs or those that were yanked off due to lockdown. They are giving the summer a miss.

P S : The pix used is only for illustrative purpose. Nazar, Giri (artist manager), director Rasi Alagappan were in Trivandrum and wanted to see Jallikattu film ( Malayalam). Anand ( Thiruda Thiruda) who shifted base to Trivandrum took them to New Theater. They were told that as only a handful had come, the show was cancelled. Anand paid for 26 seats (cutoff limit) and saw the film.