The Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce elected a new body. President and secretary spoke about the theatre bandh, actors’ remuneration, and Pawan Kalyan’s film
Suresh Kavirayani
sureshkavirayani@gmail.com
No one can stop Pawan Kalyan’s film — it is simply not possible, said Sunil Narang, who has been elected as the President of the Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce for the third time. “Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself praises Pawan Kalyan and calls him a ‘Toofan’, so nobody can stop his film,” he added.
Sunil said he was shocked upon hearing about the theatre bandh. “I didn’t participate in last month’s exhibitors’ meeting held by the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. But I was surprised to hear about the theatre bandh. In the industry, many refer to ‘four people’ as being behind such decisions, but in reality, there are many owners,” he stated. Speaking after the election of the new body on Saturday, Sunil addressed several ongoing issues. “Of all the theatres in Andhra Pradesh, our Asian Cinemas chain owns nearly five percent. We have 70 theatres, out of which 30 are on ground lease. Apart from these, we also have a few multiplexes — but the total doesn’t exceed 5 to 6 percent,” he clarified.
Commenting on the high remuneration taken by top actors despite underperforming films, Sunil said, “I can’t talk about their remuneration, because they are like Gods. But they should definitely do more films each year.”
Newly elected secretary Sridhar also shared his thoughts. “This percentage system for single screens is not new — we’ve been fighting for it since 2016. We want the percentage system, and we never spoke about the theatre bandh. That actually came from the East Godavari district. We never issued any letter or statement about a bandh. Two producers and two directors deliberately created this issue. We’ll soon reveal their names,” he said.
Sridhar emphasised that stardom comes from consistent work. “Many actors became stars because they used to do two to three films a year. But nowadays, actors are doing just one film in two years. Since January, only three films — Sankranthiki Vasthunnam, Mad Square and Court — were successful. The rest haven’t yielded profits for theatre owners.”
He added that actors are still drawing massive salaries despite poor box office performance. “One actor’s film turned out to be a disaster, yet he was paid Rs 13 crore for it,” he said.
Speaking about the Chamber itself, Sridhar noted, “This is one of the oldest bodies. It was originally called the Hyderabad Film Chamber of Commerce and started nearly 80 years ago. After Telangana was formed, the name was changed.”
Addressing another issue, Sridhar said he had left theatres vacant in anticipation of Pawan Kalyan’s film Hari Hara Veera Mallu, which was scheduled to release on June 12. “But now, the film has been postponed. What can we do? This entire month is gone without a good release — it’s a huge loss, especially for single-screen theatres,” he said.
He warned that if actors don’t increase their output, the cinema exhibition business will suffer greatly. “Many stars must do at least two films a year. Otherwise, theatres will soon be turned into malls, godowns, or wedding halls. Six single-screen theatres shut down due to financial losses,” he concluded.
