Bad News Looms For Movie Buffs

Hyderabad: Movie buffs who believe in first day first show and the occasional movie goers are in for some bad news, beginning March 2.

The Telugu Film Producers' Council and the South Indian Film Chamber expect more than 2,400 theatres in the Telugu states to be closed from that date following failure of talks between the producers and Digital Service Providers (DSPs). Also, theatres in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka are expected to be closed indefinitely. It may be recalled that the digital media replaced the printed reel format for movie exhibition. DSP operators such as UFO, Qube and PXD have been providing digital content for the movie theatres. However, in recent times, the film producers observed that the DSPs have hiked their prices steeply. Repeated requests to bring down the prices have fallen on deaf ears. Consequently, the Council decided to call for a meeting between the producers and the DSPs in order to work out a reasonable price mechanism. At the meeting, the DSPs staunchly refused to decrease the price of the digital format of movie exhibition. The producers, then, decided not to employ the services of the DSPs. Hence, the indefinite closure of movie theatres beginning from March 2.