Minister promises to settle VPF fee issue for new releases in theatres

MADURAI: Amid uncertainty over releasing of new movies on the occasion of Deepavali, which falls on November 14, Minister for Information and Publicity Kadambur C Raju said that the state government will intervene and hold talks with stakeholders of the film industry to settle issues amicably. Though the state has given its nod for reopening of movie theatres on November 10 after months relaxing COVID-19 restrictions, the stalemate between Tamil Film Active Producers Association and theatre owners over mandating payments of Virtual Print Fee (VPF) charges is on. Bharathiraja, president of the Association, recently said new movies would not be released on theatres until the VPF charges demanded by digital service providers were borne by theatre owners. Catering to the demands of theatre owners, VPF charges were slashed to 50 per cent from Rs 15, 000 to Rs 7,000 a week. However, Kadambur Raju sounded optimistic that the issue would be settled soon through talks.