There was buzz that the
Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association
is contemplating filing a complaint against the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) with the Competition Commission of India (
CCI
). In an interview,
Nikilesh Surya
(executive director,
Rohini Silver Screens
) had said that
TFPC
’s blanket ban on release and shoot of Tamil movies has been sabotaging the existing market and demanding the service of
Digital Service Provider
(DSP) for free is against the laws in the country.
R Panneerselvam (secretary, Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association) says that they’ve indeed filed a complaint against TFPC. “They are acting like a monopoly, and we’ve already filed a complaint against them three days ago under concerned section,” he claims, adding, “I think it will take about two more days for them to get the notice in hand.”
However, Vishal (president, TFPC) asks, “We (TFPC) are ready to give them content, and movies are releasing in the state. We’ve set up our own mastering unit. We will master the content and give it to the theatre owners. It’s up to the theatre owners to decide if they want to take the content or not. If they say that they will take the content through only one person, then that’s monopoly. We are the content providers, and we will master and deliver it, too. But they should be willing to play that content. Now, the ball is in their court.”
In the meantime, TFPC has signed agreements with three DSPs and said that the process of implementing their services is on.