Film organisations call for cinema strike in Kerala, actors' assn declines support

The film producers association in Kerala on Monday announced a day's token strike raising several demands including reducing the remuneration of the actors, with the date to be decided later. Malayalam actors union AMMA made it clear that it will not support the stir. The industry will come to a standstill on that day, Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce office bearers said in a press conference here after an executive committee meeting.
Pointing out at the ongoing crisis in the film industry, the Kerala Film Producers Association had earlier informed the chamber of its decision to go on strike.
The chamber's executive committee discussed the matter and decided that the protest was based on various demands, though reducing the remuneration of film actors is not a concern for the chamber, office bearers stated at a press conference.
Speaking to the media, ahead of the association executive committee meeting, producer G Suresh Kumar said theatres are operating at a loss and reaffirmed that the industry will not backtrack from the decision to strike.
He added that the protest is not against actors.
"Everyone involved in cinema must act responsibly. If we wanted to halt film production, we would have done so. The issues will be discussed with the actors' association, AMMA. However, actors should reconsider their remuneration," he said.
The decision to publicly disclose box office collections has sparked anger among industry bodies.
However, Kumar, vice-president of the Kerala Film Producers' Association and former president of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, maintained that such information will continue to be released.

The executive committee of the chamber asked film producer Antony Perumbavoor to withdraw his Facebook post questioning the announcement on the indefinite strike from June 1 onwards made by Suresh Kumar on February 6.
The rift within the Kerala Film Producers' Association came out inthe open with senior producer Perumbavoor criticising the association's vice president Suresh Kumar for unilaterally announcing a strike from June 1.
Such an announcement should be made publicly only after securing the support of the majority of members in the organisation, Perumbavoor stated in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Responding, Kumar said: "There is no room for further talks with Antony Perumbavoor. His Facebook post was inappropriate, and I see no reason to communicate with him."
Meanwhile, AMMA, the actors' organisation has expressed its willingness to engage in discussions on the remuneration issue.

The decision was taken during a meeting at AMMA's office in Kochi, attended by around 50 actors, including Mohanlal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Manju Pillai, Bindu Panicker, Tovino Thomas, Saikumar, Vijayaraghavan, Joju George, Biju Menon, Basil Joseph, and Ansiba Hassan.
In a statement, AMMA said, "Our members have decided not to support the strike called by a section of Malayalam film producers."