Twitter
Advertisement

Theatre owners move HC over state diktat

Cinema hall owners have challenged a 40-year-old state-government rule that makes it mandatory for movie theatres to screen Marathi films.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Cinema hall owners have challenged a 40-year-old state-government rule in the Bombay High Court that makes it mandatory for movie theatres to screen Marathi films for a minimum period of four weeks in a year.

Though the government circular was issued in 1968, the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association claims that it was kept in abeyance and only “recently” the government begun to enforce it acting under pressure from the Marathi film producers’ lobby.

Several cinema halls were told that their licences will not be renewed if they fail to screen Marathi films.
The petitioners claimed that there weren’t enough Marathi films being produced and Marathi film producers were not willing to offer commercial rates for booking theatres despite getting huge subsidies from the
government. “We are not averse to exhibiting Marathi films as long as it is commercially viable and for that they do not need any circular,” the petition said.

The petition stated that in 2005, only 16 Marathi films were screened; in 2006 the number of films rose to 73 and in 2007 it dipped to 31 films.

The association, which comprises largely single-screen theatre owners, claimed that its members couldn’t  afford to reserve four weeks in a year for Marathi films as it would amount to keeping their cinema halls shut for that period. The association sought quashing of the 1968 circular.

According to the 1968 government circular, the rule for mandatory screening of Marathi films was to encourage “indigenous films”. However, the association said that the term indigenous meant ‘locally made’ and the government was relying on a narrow reading of the term by placing only Marathi films in that category.

The High Court has asked the state government to file its reply by March 6.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
    Advertisement

    Live tv

    Advertisement
    Advertisement