A bevy of directors – some known, some unrecognisable – discussed away in the corner of the Producers Council – the fourth floor at the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC), in Chennai. Actor Ramesh Khanna, known for his supporting roles in Padayappa and Villain, stood out – quite literally – in his brown and gold shirt right outside the office. With a paper in one hand, he appeared to be practicing lines for a play. A few minutes later, directors Vikraman, RK Selvamani, Ravi Mariya, and actor-director Sundar C stood facing the press.
Led by Khanna, the group of directors started with their slogan, inviting the press to join in.
“Register Online! Register Online!”
“Don’t delay title registrations!”
“Rights of Directors and Writers”
“Victory to directors’ unity!”
“Tell us whether the title is available!”
“Register Online! Register Online!”
The members of the Directors and Writers Association in Tamil cinema chanted these slogans. Their demands highlighted the obsolete method of registering films. Revealing the seriousness of the issue, the members pointed out that many times, the registration of films ended in fraudulent cases.
The method of registering titles is long, if not cumbersome. There are three different councils that directors would have to approach to check if a title has been taken, namely: the Producers Association, Chamber of Commerce, and finally the Film and Television Producers Guild of South India. Before each of these councils confirms, much time is wasted, insisted RK Selvamani. “For this online registration, both the Producers Council and Chamber of Commerce have agreed. But, the Guild hasn’t said anything. We suspect they might be covering up something more,” he added.
Back in 2012, directors Bharathiraja and Ameer had asked for online registration, representing the voice of many other directors. The Producers Council then said that registering the title of a film was their right. Thus, director Vikraman pointed out, the directors had given up. “We [the directors] are not accusing anybody. Even producers say that registration of film titles involves a lot of malpractice because of this old method,” said Vikraman, member of the Directors Association.
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Both members of the association said that they had been asking for more transparency in registering a film since 2013. “Last time we asked was six months ago and nothing has been done yet,” said Vikraman. Thus far, the directors and writers claimed that they have been running from ‘pillar to post’ to register titles. It was alleged that the organisations would lie to the directors saying that the title had already been taken and use this as an excuse to get more money from the director to register their original title. “By these lies, we come to a situation where we have to buy our own titles,” the directors association said.
“We give them one month’s time from today,” said Vikraman, before repeating the slogan resonating their demands. Soon enough, the doors of the Producers Council’s at the SIFCC office opened. Clutching the paper with their slogan in one hand, and the proposed memorandum in the other, the writers and directors went in. The outcome of the meeting remains to be seen.