"We have agreed to constitute a high-level panel to look into the problem and suggest remedies. We'll be meeting again on May 12 and we hope to bring the house in order by the end of this month," Culture Minister MA Baby told reporters after the meeting in Kottayam.
Representatives of Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), the apex body of producers, distributors and exhibitors, and Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), representing those behind the camera, attended the meeting besides Industry Minister Elamaram Kareem.
T Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Industries, will head the panel and Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman KR Mohanan will be its convener. Venu V, Principal Secretary, Culture, will be a member. The groups can submit their representations before the next meeting.
"There's a will on the part of the government to solve the crisis and there will be a way too. We hope all outstanding issues will be solved and the government would find some lasting solutions," FEFK general secretary B Unnikrishnan said. "The discussions ended on a positive note." On April 10, the KFCC decided to boycott the stars and singers who appear on television shows saying such shows, popular because of the star presence, were weaning away filmgoers. A week later the Kerala Film Producers' Association decided not to allow shooting new films as a protest against rising production costs.
They argue that the remuneration of stars accounts for more than 60 percent of the production cost and the stars should reduce their remuneration and wasteful expenditure on the sets. However, representatives of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) did not attend Sunday's meeting.
Taking the crisis deeper, a few new films failed to hit the screens last week as exhibitors threatened to close down theaters if the stalemate between the producers and AMMA was not resolved.
The Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA), opposed to the FEFKA but enjoys the support of the Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest ruling partner, came out against the negotiations saying it was at the instance of some 'vested interests'.
"They could have intervened much earlier. These ministers are now acting on behalf of some influential people in the industry," said popular director Vinayan, who heads MACTA. "The state government has been doing precious nothing when the crisis started to snowball." Producers, distributors and exhibitors say there was an agreement reached in 2002 between the industry bodies representing artistes and technicians against participating in television shows that "destroy film industry." Majority of the films that were released in 2009, including those starring reigning superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal, flopped at the box office and the estimated loss for the industry last year was Rs800mn.
