Now, no new Telugu films in Chennai from this Friday

Ever since March 1, the Tamil film industry has been on an indeterminate shutdown, over a few demands, including not paying virtual print fees to digital service providers, and regulating ticket rates in theatres by introducing computerisation of ticketing. As a result, there was no new Tamil release in March, and theatres began to screen older Tamil films and new films from other languages. Last Friday, the Ram Charan-Samantha-starrer

Rangasthalam

was released with much fanfare and was announced as the top movie at the Chennai box office by trade pundits.

Now, to ensure that the impact of their strike doesn’t get diluted, the

Tamil Film Producers Council

has requested the Telugu producers to not release any new Telugu films, too, in the state — a request that has been accepted!

Confirming the decision, Suresh Babu Daggubati, chairman of the

Telugu Film Producers Council

, told us, “We had received a request not to release Telugu films in Tamil Nadu. They have an ongoing strike and as producers helping out our fellow producers, we have decided to accept it, after discussion.”
He informs that no new Telugu film will be released from this Friday, and that the producers of Rangasthalam have also been asked to stop screening their film from this week onwards.

However, a theatre owner in the city told us, “So far, we haven’t received any official communication regarding this decision by the Telugu producers. We have actually begun bookings for this Friday’s new Telugu release,

Chal Mohan Ranga

.”
Meanwhile, an industry insider claimed that while the efforts were taken, the Telugu producers had refused, questioning why Telugu films alone should not be released when films in English, Hindi, and

Malayalam

are being released, and politely requested the Tamil producers not to make such appeals again.