He said there are big projects and distributors are cautious now, though there were a few losses earlier in some cases. Most producers do not approach banks for finance as they prefer funding only big producers, he said, adding that it was very difficult to convince banks about the repayment schedule.
He welcomed the recent tax exemptions announced by the government, saying that the government has done a lot for the industry and so “we should give some good movies (in return).”
The celluloid world here was well equipped to handle the crisis as most producers had gone in for small budget films, he said. L Suresh, Vice-President, Film Federation of India, asserted that the recession had not affected film production and pointed out that 132 Tamil films were produced last year, which would cross the 150 mark this year. He attributed the increase in the number of films to low-budget movies, “which has changed the trend in the Tamil film industry.
“Films like Subramaniyapuram, with little star value, had done well at the box- office this year,” he said. But, he admitted that collections were badly affected during the four days of the terrorist attack. “Many people were glued to their TV sets and our collections were drastically hit,” he said.
“Fortunately, none of our (Tamil) film crew was present in Mumbai during the attack or it would have been worse. We are expecting some more movies to be released this year and also during Pongal next month, which will provide some relief to us”, he said.
However, the terror strikes affected collections in cinema houses in Mumbai screening Tamil films, which reported a two-third drop in the collections, K Rajagopal, President, South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, told PTI. “Some films, which were ready for release in Mumbai could not be released as cinema houses there were yet to recover from the shock,” he said.
Asked whether the crew from Bollywood production units were heading to Chennai following the attack, Rajagopal, who is also a leading Tamil film producer said, “no definitely not...”
Mumbai always has its charm with exotic locations. I don’t think they will come to Chennai for shooting purposes due to the attack”.
PTI