It’s great news for Kerala movie buffs. The Kerala Film Exhibitors’ Federation has decided to end the strike. New movies like Ezra, Fukri, Jomonte Suvisheshangal will start playing on the screens soon. The theatre association had demanded 50 percent of the profit from theatres, 10 percent up from the current 40 percent and had refused to exhibit Malayalam films from December 16. Liberty Basheer, President of Kerala Film Exhibitor’s Federation, has now announced that all A-Class theatres will start exhibiting the movies from Saturday, January 14.
Kerala theatre strike: 25 days of uncertainty ends
The end of 25 days of uncertainty should revive the mollywood industry, which has been incurring heavy losses, thanks to the strike. The strike had brought Malayalam film industry to a standstill. The end of the strike comes in the wake of the federation going soft on their previous stand. The theatre association, however, has called for talks on January 25th. Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Chief Minister, has expressed disappointment and told that the government will intervene in the matter only if the strike is called off.
The release of much-anticipated movies like Mohanlal’s Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol, Dulquer Salman’s Jomonte Suvisheshangal, Prithviraj’s Ezra and Jayasurya’s Fukri came to a grinding halt due to the strike. The strike has ended but the uncertainty continues since the exhibitors’ federation is on the verge of splitting. The split became evident when the Tamil film Bairavaa was released on 150 screens on Thursday and another 20 screens on Friday. The movie was expected to be filmed only in multiplexes and theatres run by the government and non-federation members, but some of the federation members defied the strike and released the new film.
In the wake of the recent split and the continuing uncertainty, it remains to be seen if the filmmakers will agree to release new movies.