The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce held an Executive Committee Meeting to discuss varied issues recently, but the issue reportedly dominated the meeting was levying penalty on exhibitors who didn’t screen “HanuMan’ during Sankranthi Festival despite signing prior agreements. “Usually, agreements between distributors and exhibitors are considered sacrosanct and expected to be honoured by both the parties in letter and spirit. But eight to nine exhibitors breached the agreement,” says a source and adds, “When HanuMan distributors raised this issue in executive committee meeting and demanded penalty, it lead to heated arguments from both sides and the chamber heads had to intervene to stem the emotions,” he adds,Actually, the 47-members from various sectors-studio, producer, distributor and exhibitor- form an executive committee and they meet often to discuss issues on agenda and other important issues pertaining to the four sectors. “HanuMan distributors had the right to raise this issue in the meeting and they did it forcefully. However, the tainted exhibitors claimed that they were under pressure to screen a particular film so they had to skip ‘HanuMan’ from January 12 onwards despite proper agreements. While distributors rightly demand compensation for the losses they incurred, while exhibitors are reluctant to pay,” he points out.Although, Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce has funds to the tune of Rs 8 to 10 crore, it can’t use this money for settling disputes between distributors and exhibitors. “It is meant for health care issues and other personal contingencies of members and not for compensations for petty disputes,” he concludes.Nonetheless, the socio fantasy has turned out to be a massive hit and garnered more than Rs 65 crores net collections in two Telugu states.
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