Sandalwood plea to CM: Raise ticket price by Rs. 5
Distributors want power, water, property tax payment holiday, and relief package for workers
BENGALURU:
In a bid to stay afloat after the Covid-19 lockdown ends, representatives of the Kannada film industry have submitted a list of demands to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, including permission to resume shoots, raising ticket prices by Rs. 5, exemption from power, water and property tax payments, and a relief package for the 8,000 workers employed in around 600 single-screen theatres in the state.
On Friday, after a letter was submitted by Karnataka Film Exhibitors Association to the CM, association president K V Chandrashekar said, “In 1980 there were around 1,200 cinema, while today there are just 600. With the advent of multiplexes, Netflix, Amazon and OTT, 150 more theatres in the state are likely to close down.”
He pointed out that while other sectors have got government relief, cine workers have been left out.
After theatres were ordered to shut down during the Covid-19 lockdown and to pay workers their wages, theatre owners have incurred monthly losses of around Rs. 10 crore. Other major expenses are on account of power, water and property tax payments, as well as on maintaining theatre infrastructure, he said.
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