The Tamil Nadu Distributors’ Association and the Theatre Owners’ Association will not participate in the proposed film industry strike on 30 May. In a jointly issued statement, they said that theatres would remain open from 30 May.
Earlier, Vishal, in his capacity as President of the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council (TFPC) had announced that theatres would be shut, as part of a plan to force the Central and State Governments to address issues of piracy.
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However, veteran distributor Tiruppur Subramaniam said that such a move would affect the livelihood of the lakhs of people who are dependent upon the entertainment industry. He said, “While this may benefit people like Vishal, who are already rich, there are lakhs out there who derive daily income from the industry. What will happen to them if they go along with this foolhardy plan?”
He also said that distributors and theatre owners were confident they had made the right decision. “There’s no way we laboured over this. It is black and white to us. Closing off theatres for god knows how long is plain wrong.”
Thus far, there has been no comment from Vishal’s side.