Kerala state theater owners union leader makes major decision amid Malayalam Cinema’s financial worries

According to reports, the Malayalam film industry and theaters have suffered huge losses in recent months due to back-to-back flops. For the same reason, the Film Exhibitors United Organization of Kerala (FEUOK) has imposed new rules to save cinema halls from more losses in the state. Reportedly, K Vijayakumar, the union leader of the owners of the state theater in Kerala, stated that lower quality films will not be screened in the cinema halls and if they want to, they will have to pay screening fees to the theater owners.

FEUOK has imposed new rules for the release of films in theaters

Speaking to IndianExpress.com, FEUOK President K Vijayakumar said, “At our most recent general meeting, FEUOK came to a decision to impose a minimum screening fee for certain films. This is because theaters often have very few attendances, sometimes as few as three to five, which makes it difficult for them to cover their expenses, even electricity costs. To address this problem, we intend to collect screening fees from the producers of films that we believe are of low quality. Any projects that refuse to do so amount to be paid is not screened.” This policy only applies to standalone theaters and not their multiplex counterparts.

He further expressed concern that more than 50 percent of screens in Kerala would be closed if the current condition of the theaters deteriorates in the coming days. “A total of 250-300 films will be released in cinemas this year, which is beyond the capacity of Malayalam cinema. We must discourage the practice of releasing seven to eight films a week, and I hope that all film unions will support us and show solidarity,” he said in a chat with the same publication, adding that members of FEFKA and AMMA should support their decision.

But does FEUOK have the right forms and skills to judge the quality of films? K Vijayakumar replied that their experience in the industry will help gauge the potential success of films. “A film’s director, actors, production company and distributor are among the factors that will be considered in this evaluation process,” he said.

For the necessary procedures, some meetings will be organized between theater owners and producers. In addition, he said that they are looking for movies made for the theater experience and not OTT as they want to increase the number of visitors to the movie theaters.

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