Tamil film producers' council withdraws call for strike

The Tamil film industry's most powerful body, The Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC), has withdrawn the call to strike work indefinitely from May 30.

The strike was planned to emphasise the council's demand that the state government come down hard on internet piracy.

The council's decision to withdraw the strike call comes in the wake of several theatre owners' associations and the distributors associations announcing that they would not be participating in the strike, and that all theatres would function as usual on May 30. In addition, the passing of the GST bill has added to the worries of producers, whose films might have been held up by the strike against online piracy. 

In a statement, Vishal, the president of the Tamil Film Producers' Council, said, "As feared, the government is to announce that the Entertainment Tax is 28 per cent under the GST. We are not against any government. You have chosen us to ensure that the Tamil film industry does well."

Vishal, who did not openly explain why the TFPC had chosen to withdraw its strike call, said, "At the moment, there are several films that have been completed and cleared by the Censor Board for release.These films have also got tax exemption and are ready for release in June. They have said that if their films' releases are postponed to July, they will have to encounter a situation where they will have to pay GST additionally."

It is likely that the decision was taken in order to prevent serious losses to producers. The actor and producer also went on to give an update on the various activities undertaken by the producers' council till date.