Film artistes,industry lobby again

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 16 (IANS)
Kerala's film artistes have appealed to political parties in the state to resolve a turf war with an industry lobby group that has erupted for the second time this month.

A delegation of Malayalam film actors met state leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party here Tuesday and also plans to meet Chief Minister A.K. Antony in a bid to resolve the row.

The latest crisis was triggered Monday when the Kerala Film Chamber refused to permit the release of the film "Natturajavu" featuring superstar Mohanlal and directed by Shaji Kailas.

The chamber, an association of producers, distributors and exhibitors, also slapped a ban on actors Mukesh and Sreenivasan.

The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) says this violates an agreement reached with the chamber on March 13 when the two groups agreed to co-exist in the interest of the Kerala film industry.

"The chamber people say one thing and then fail to live up to what they agree," comedian Innocent, who heads the AMMA, told IANS after separate meetings with CPI-M secretary Pinnarayi Vijayan and Koderi Balakrishnan and state BJP president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai.

Among those who attended the meeting were Mohanlal, Mamooty, Dileep, Maniyan Pillai Raju and Jagdish.

On March 6, the AMMA ignored a diktat from the chamber against participating in a stage show organised by a leading TV channel. The chamber banned all film activities in the state the next day.

The ban was revoked on March 13 after the two groups called a truce.

They (the chamber) seem to have no consistency. What they fail to understand is close to 400,000 people are employed in this industry," complained Innocent.

The chamber contends the AMMA has failed to honour an agreement reached last year where the artistes agreed to a pay cut and also said they would not to take part in any stage show without the chamber's concurrence.

Members of the chamber are also engaged in a parallel exercise aimed at cutting the AMMA to size.

Navodaya Appachen, a leading studio owner, and the Merryland Studio have announced a 50 percent cut in rates for producers who feature new faces in their films.

This has prompted a number of producers to issue advertisements calling for new faces for their next ventures.

That such films can be successful was proved by the mega hit "4 The People" directed by Jayraj, which has only new faces.

This film was made on a budget of just Rs.6 million. A film with a superstar costs Rs.25 million while a film without a superstar costs Rs.15 million.

Indo-Asian News Service