The Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owner’s Association has issued a revised share percentage proposal on Tuesday. Apart from making producers upset as their share percentages were reduced, fans were also unhappy as the statement revealed the market value of their favourite movie stars.
Things don’t appear to be going very well for Kamal Haasan. After a rather poor show at the Lok Sabha elections after much hype, he has been relegated to the status of a Tier-3 star by the association. Along with Haasan, stars such as Karthi and Vikram were also ranked in the third category.
Rajnikanth, as expected, appeared in the Tier-1 category. Vijay and Ajith too made the cut. Tier-2 featured stars such as Suriya, ‘Jayam’ Ravi and Dhanush. Tier-1 consists of the stars who have consistently delivered great results at the Market and are known to pull huge crowds to the theatres. Tier-2 consists of actors at the next step of the ladder while the Tier-3 is one step lower. Kamal Haasan, who was once considered a rival to Rajnikanth, is now considered to be a Tier-3 star while Rajnikanth continues to remain one of the biggest stars in Indian Cinema.
For movies featuring Tier-1 stars, as these are not expected to incur losses, ‘A’ centre theatres will provide 60% share to the distributors and producers while the rest will provide a 65% share. In the second week, ‘A’ centre theatres will provide a 55% share while the rest will provide a 50% share. For the second week, the figures are 50% and 55% respectively.
For movies featuring Tier-2 actors, the figures are 55% for A centre theatres in the first week and 60% for the rest. For Tier-3 actors, all theatres will provide only 50% share in the first week and 45% in the second.
Fans were reportedly unhappy with the ranking as it gives the fans of other actors who have featured in higher tiers the bragging rights. Producers, too, felt that the ranking should have been kept discreet.
Subramaniam, President of The Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owner’s Association said in his statement, “Producers have been increasing the remuneration of the actors and demanding higher share from theatre owners. If this trend continues, it will be very difficult to run theatres. In Kerala, none of the centres gives more than 60% share and we are only trying to adapting the same trend here. Whatever we mentioned in the statement is a mere suggestion. Our intention is only to regulate the business. As we couldn’t list out the names of all the directors and actors, mentioned only the important ones.”
Veteran director Bharathiraaja, who heads the ad hoc committee of Tamil Film Producers Council, said, “The statement of the Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owner’s Association sounds as if they have decided to vanquish all the producers and distributors who are already struggling to stay in the business. Though there is no President and administrative officers for the Tamil Film Producers Council, theatre owners should take any decision only after consulting the Government appointed ad hoc committee. If they try to bypass us, producers and distributors will stage a huge protest.”
