Following news of a crisis affecting malayalam film and theatres as a result of a string of flops, the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of kerala (FEUOK) has announced steps to safeguard movie theatres in the state. One of the methods entails not showing poor quality films, and filmmakers whose films are rejected will have to pay screening fees to theatre owners if they want to show their films in theatres.

These new regulations appear to be illogical and ludicrous. How can a group determine whether a movie is up to par or below par? Does that imply that only films with a large budget will be regarded as quality films? Kantara would therefore not meet their "standards" for what constitutes a good movie. Even the blockbuster malayalam film premam was produced on a shoestring budget. But would it be regarded as a bad movie under the new rules? Despite having an enormous budget, Mohan Lal's Marakkar was a failure due to its poor quality.

The standard of any film cannot be decided by a team or committee. The audience is the one who determines if a movie is good or not. Every movie has a right to a standard theatrical release, after which the public will assess its merit. These new regulations appear to have been introduced by certain individuals who are unaware of how the film and exhibition industries operate. In the last four months, the Keralan film industry is said to have lost over Rs 200 crore, with only one of the 75 films that were released during that time period performing well at the box office.


Find out more: