This news would certainly shock many film goers in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is now said that starting from 16th of March 2018 all theatres in Tamil Nadu would be closed indefinitely.
It is important to note that this indefinite closing of movie halls in TN would be done only if the state government does not abolish local body tax. It was an important day for the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association on Thursday 8th March 2018 because a decision on the above was taken.
The stand alone theatre owners of this association demanded certain things. Their four point charter of demands included abolition of local body tax to the state government.
They also demanded approval of building of new theatres that would be handled by PWD instead of CDMA etc.
Other demands like increasing the maintenance charges plus increasing the license renewal time for the movie halls from one year to three years were also made.
One important piece of information is multiplexes plus cinema halls within Chennai city limits would not be taking part in the upcoming strike. There are as many as 180 multiplex screens in the TN and theatres present out of total 1050 theatres in TN state is known to us.
It must be noted that state government charges 8 % local body tax plus GST from theatres.