Tamil film producers stand by decision on temporary ban, further action after Aug 1 meeting

Chennai, Jul 30 (PTI) The calling out of actor Dhanush by the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC), for accepting advance but not giving dates, has not gone down well for the Tamil film industry, creating quite an uproar.

Nevertheless, TFPC secretary R Radhakrishnan told PTI on Tuesday that they stand by the decisions made by the producers’ council, including temporarily stopping signing of any new films after August 16, and that the key members of the council will meet on August 1 to decide further action.

Following the allegations by TFPC on July 29, the representatives of the actors’ body, The South Indian Artistes’ Association (SIAA) aka Nadigar Sangam claimed that they got to know about the decision only when it was reported in the media.

While interacting with journalists on Monday evening, right after the statement was released by TFPC, actor Karthi and a few other representatives of the Nadigar Sangam had said it was not fair on the part of the producers’ council to drop Dhanush’s name out of the blue when they haven’t told the Nadigar Sangam about it earlier.

When contacted, Poochi S Murugan, one of the vice-presidents of SIAA told PTI on Tuesday: "We condemn the arbitrary decision by the producers’ council to stop shooting from November 1. We will decide on our counter action at the coming general body meeting, which will be held either on August 15 or August 16." According to a statement released by the Nadigar Sangam in this regard, in a joint meeting held between the two associations on June 21, both of them agreed to certain conditions which the Nadigar Sangam has already adopted. One such condition accepted by both was that complaints should be formally made with proof.

Murugan said the Nadigar Sangam had looked into all the issues brought up by the producers council until June 21 and had sorted them out already.

"Now, without letting us know about it earlier, the producers’ council had suddenly sprung the name of Dhanush. This is not acceptable behaviour on their part," said Murugan.

According to Radhakrishnan, the producers who have invested so far in films that have not started filming due to lack of commitment from the actors, particularly Dhanush, are facing grave financial consequences. Based on the feedback from their members, he said they decided that the actors and technicians can be signed for new films only after they complete the existing projects.

The statement issued by the producers’ council on July 29, also mentioned that the council has come up with new guidelines to prevent films from not being released due to unavailability of screens.

"So, we are asking everyone to stop signing new films temporarily from August 16. The shootings can restart once the new guidelines are in place," said Radhakrishnan.

As for the complete ban called on shootings from November 1, which Karthi said was an "illegal" decision that would affect thousands of people involved in filmmaking, Radhakrishnan claimed that they had come to that decision out of necessity.

"The fee for the actors and technicians and other related expenses have become impossibly high in the recent past. We need to regulate this and bring some kind of ceiling. To this end, we want to stop shooting from November 1, until the producers find a solution to their pressing problem," he said.

According to the TFPC press statement, the producers’ body has also decided that films featuring big stars should be made avialable on OTT platforms after they are screened in the theatres for eight weeks. It also proposed a joint action committee comprising representatives from all stakeholders, including distributors and theatre owners.

But Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association president Tirupur Subramaniam said theatre owners’ have decided not to get caught between the two warring bodies. "I think they have to sort it out among themselves," he added. PTI JR KH