Theatre owners fix additional rent for running critically bad movies

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Almost 95% of Malayalam films released this year bombed at the box office forcing the theatre owners in the state to adopt newer rules for survival. Film exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK) has come up with a unanimous decision. Movies rated poor will be shown in the theatre for just seven days but with additional rent. A meeting with producers and distributors is impending which will decide the final decision on the same.

According to FEUOK, filmmakers are eyeing the OTT business these days. Movies made only for OTT are tried in theatres without any promotional work. These invariably affect business, incurring losses to theatre owners. Most theatres run empty these days. The collection amounts are not even sufficient to pay the monthly salary to employees. Only 'Romancham' released this year fared well at the box office. The movie ran for 50 days and more in Kerala theatres.

However, the failure at the box office made no tectonic shifts in the film world. Another 30 movies are waiting for release in theatres with more than 40 films in post-production stages. On another note, movies are now cheaply available through social media platforms such as telegram, which is plunging the numbers in theatres these days.