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Gulabo Sitabo: Bollywood Producers Hit Back At Inox For Threatening 'Retributive Measures'

Gulabo Sitabo's Amazon Prime release has left theatre owners upset with PVR and Inox expressing their disappointment. Now, producers are hitting back.
A still from Shakuntala Devi and Gulabo Sitabo
HuffPost India
A still from Shakuntala Devi and Gulabo Sitabo

The war between theatre owners and producers continues to escalate after more announcements were made by Amazon Prime Video on their acquisition of several movie titles, including the Vidya Balan-starrer, Shakuntala Devi.

Yesterday, in an interview to HuffPost India, PVR CEO Kamal Gianchandani expressed his disappointment with Gulabo Sitabo’s makers for skipping the theatrical release by going straight to streaming.

Hour later, Inox released an angsty statement, calling the filmmakers ‘fair weather friends’ instead of ‘life long partners’ also warning of retributive measures, a comment that set Film Twitter ablaze.

Now, the Producers Guild has released a statement, standing in support of those who’ve decided to release their films straight on OTT platforms. The statement listed out the reasons why Indian producers are going the streaming route, pointing out the cost of interest on borrowed capital, overheads, set expenses etc.

It read, “Elaborate and expensive sets erected for under-production films have had to be taken down due to no date in sight for shoots to resume, with the sunk cost of the set and studio rentals to be borne completely by producers - as insurers refuse to cover the cost.”

The statement further said, “Shoot schedules have had to be abruptly cancelled due to the lockdown, with huge cancellation charges being borne completely by the producer - again with no support from insurers. Interest costs are mounting on amounts raised to fund films, with producers having to bear this additional burden with no date in sight for cinemas to re-open; in fact with the knowledge that cinemas may be one of the last sectors of the service sector likely to be given permission to re-open.”

“Re-opening of cinema is bound to be staggered across the country. with each State government rightly making its own decision on the appropriate time to reopen cinemas in their State.”

Read the entire statement below:

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.