Foreign language films dominated the theatres in Tamil Nadu for several years. There are several theatres in big cities, including state capital Chennai, which prefer to exhibit English and Hindi films over Tamil films. It became a concern for the Tamil film industry a few years ago and it was decided that the theatres across the state would screen Tamil films at least for a certain number of days each year. However, many theatre owners did not adhere to this agreement by the film fraternity.
Now leading director Seenu Ramasamy has asked the Producers’ Association to prioritise Tamil language films over the dubbed English and Hindi films.
In a tweet the filmmaker said that Tamil films should be given first priority while distributing films in Tamil Nadu, the same way as they do in Kerala and Karnataka.
கேரளாகர்நாடகா மாநிலத்தில் அவர்கள் படங்கள் வெளியாகும்போது அவர்கள் முன்னுரிமைதருவது போலதமிழ்நாட்டு படங்கள்வெளியாகும்போது தமிழ் படங்களுக்குமுதல் முக்கியத்துவம் தரவேண்டும்மாற்றுமொழி டப்பிங்& ஆங்கிலப்படங்கள்தனியாக திரையிட கால அட்டவணையை தயாரிப்பாளர் சங்கம் உருவாக்க வேண்டும்
— R.Seenu Ramasamy (@seenuramasamy) December 27, 2021
Along with Hindi and English films, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu dubbed movies are now playing in theatres across Tamil Nadu. Telugu action drama Pushpa: The Rise starring Allu Arjun, which released on December 17, got more screens than Vishal’s Tamil action thriller Enemy.
Similarly, as much as possible theatres are reserving screens for SS Rajamouli’s big budget Telugu film RRR, scheduled to be released on January 7, 2022. More screens have also been set aside for Spider Man: No Way Home.
Film producers allege that small-budget Tamil films don’t even get 10 percent of the screens reserved for foreign language films and it remains a matter of concern for the Tamil film industry.
Raising the issue, Ramasamy said that when Kannada cinema was in such a crisis the film fraternity decided to impose several restrictions on foreign language movies. They decided to exhibit other language films in Karnataka only after two weeks of the initial release. The filmmaker appealed to the Tamil Producers’ Association to take similar measures.
As per Ramasamy, the film industry is primarily profit-driven. You cannot screen it in a theatre, nor can you compel the theatres to do so. They are not going to agree. The only way to solve this is to elevate the calibre of Tamil films to the point where they can compete, suggested Ramasamy.
