Minister for Information and Public Relations Perni Venkataramaiah has said the film industry is in favour of the Online Ticketing System (OTS) and that it is not a new practice.
Addressing the media after a fresh round of deliberations with a delegation of Telugu film directors and producers on the issue at Machilipatnam on Wednesday, Mr. Venkataramaiah insisted that it was not something that the YSRCP government sought to introduce.
The Minister further said that actor Chiranjeevi had spoken to him and clarified that what had transpired at the ‘Republic’ movie pre-release event in Hyderabad had nothing to do with the film industry’s stand on the matter.
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The producers also expressed their dissatisfaction over the serious comments made by JSP president Pawan Kalyan, the Minister said.
Mr. Venkataramaiah said there was a consensus on it, and the producers told him that the industry would go deeper into the crisis if the ticket rates continued to be low, as the production costs had escalated steeply.
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The producers also expressed their concern on the severe impact of COVID-19, which had resulted in poor occupancies in the theatres for most part of the last two years. This necessitated permission to allow cent percent occupancy to recover from the unprecedented crisis. A request for it was made by the film industry delegates, the Minister said.
Mr. Venkataramaiah said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was sympathetic to the desperate situation faced by Tollywood and was willing to resolve the issues.
“Unfortunately, what should have been a smooth process of consultation has been vitiated by the JSP chief. The producers are willing to follow the government’s advice and cooperate with it to ensure the survival of the industry,” he said.
‘Discordant voices’
Producer Dil Raju, who led the delegation, said that Mr. Chiranjeevi, actor Nagarjuna and director Rajamouli and other industry bigwigs had met the Chief Minister last year and apprised him of the steps needed to bail the stakeholders out of the crisis, but “some discordant voices had came out of the discussions that took place at the time of release of ‘Vakeel Saab’ movie.”
After the latest meeting with Mr. Venkataramaiah earlier this month, the government’s views could not be properly conveyed to the film industry at large. “This resulted in one incident after another,” Mr. Raju said, requesting those raking up controversies to not mix up politics and issues concerning Tollywood.
The delegation comprised Bunny Vasu, Sunil Narang, Vamsi Reddy and ‘Mythri’ Naveen.