With the Telangana theatre owners’ plan to down shutters indefinitely from 1st May to bring in the revenue-sharing system in place of rentals for films screened having gone phut, the top 40-50 among them have unilaterally decided to do away with the system of charging rent and will instead adopt the revenue sharing system from 1st May. These top single-screen cinemas are in great demand as they often yield shares better than even high-end multiplexes which work on revenue share. Of course, the balance 400-odd single-screen cinemas in the state are not in as commanding a position that they can adopt a similar stance.
The top single-screen cinemas have told the producers and distributors that going forward, they will not be screening films on rental basis. While many producers/distributors have no option but to accept the terms laid down by the top cinemas, there are a few big names who have not agreed. The cinemas are prepared to forgo releasing films of such dissenting producers/distributors like Mythri Movie Makers.
It may be recalled that the 450-odd single-screen cinemas in Telangana had decided to shut down indefinitely beginning May 1 to make producers and distributors agree to their demand for revenue sharing instead of screening films by merely charging fixed rentals. With growing running and maintenance costs, competition from multiplexes, and dwindling footfalls, single-screen cinemas have been complaining about mounting losses for a long time now. It is to seek a solution to their problems that all the single-screen cinemas in the state had decided to jointly shut down to make producers and distributors agree to their demand for revenue sharing. But the plan for a complete shutdown has fizzled out, probably because the majority of the single-screen cinemas have realised that they do not have the same bargaining power as the top 40-50 cinemas among them have.
