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Various theatre owners and associations, including the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, may have to pay a hefty penalty for allegedly restricting the release of Kamal Haasan’s spy thriller Vishwaroopam earlier this year.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), which had ordered investigation following a complaint by Hasaan, has received the probe report from its Director General (Investigation) and is soon likely to pass a decision against the theatre associations, official sources said.
Haasan, who initially planned to launch the trilingual (Tamil, Telugu and Hindi) film on the DTH platform ahead of its releases in theatre, had to change his strategy because of protests from various theatre owners. The multi-talented actor then knocked on the doors of the competition watchdog accusing these industry bodies of using anti-competitive practices to restrict the release of his film. According to Haasan’s complaint, the association acted like a cartel with its members' concerted decision to not exhibit any film including Vishwaroopam if it was already released on DTH platform.
According to the official, the DG report has found enough evidence supporting the complaint and therefore, the CCI may soon pass an order penalizing those associations and theatre owners who were involved in it.
The actor-director-producer had roped in direct to home (DTH) companies Airtel, Dish, Videocon and Reliance to screen Vishwaroopam on January 10. However, due to protests and various controversies surrounding its release, the film was finally released in Tamil Nadu in February. Rajkamal Films International had scheduled the release of the Rs 95-crore movie on the DTH platform at Rs 1,000 for the Tamil version and Rs 500 for the Hindi and Telugu versions.
Apart from Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, the Confederation of Theatre Owners and Distributors Associations had also opposed Haasan’s plans to first release his movie on DTH .
Haasan is the second Bollywood personality to approach CCI in recent times. Late last year, actor-producer Ajay Devgn had made a complaint with the fair trade regulator alleging abuse of dominance by Yash Raj Films.
Devgn had alleged that Yash Raj Films was using its dominant position to ask exhibitors to dedicate more screens to its own upcoming release, Shahrukh Khan-starrer Jab Tak Hai Jaan, affecting Devgn’s film Son of Sardaar, both of which were to be released on the same day. However, turning down Devgn’s plea, CCI maintained there were no violations of competition law in that case.
CCI likely to penalise theatres over Vishwaroopam | Business Standard
.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), which had ordered investigation following a complaint by Hasaan, has received the probe report from its Director General (Investigation) and is soon likely to pass a decision against the theatre associations, official sources said.
Haasan, who initially planned to launch the trilingual (Tamil, Telugu and Hindi) film on the DTH platform ahead of its releases in theatre, had to change his strategy because of protests from various theatre owners. The multi-talented actor then knocked on the doors of the competition watchdog accusing these industry bodies of using anti-competitive practices to restrict the release of his film. According to Haasan’s complaint, the association acted like a cartel with its members' concerted decision to not exhibit any film including Vishwaroopam if it was already released on DTH platform.
According to the official, the DG report has found enough evidence supporting the complaint and therefore, the CCI may soon pass an order penalizing those associations and theatre owners who were involved in it.
The actor-director-producer had roped in direct to home (DTH) companies Airtel, Dish, Videocon and Reliance to screen Vishwaroopam on January 10. However, due to protests and various controversies surrounding its release, the film was finally released in Tamil Nadu in February. Rajkamal Films International had scheduled the release of the Rs 95-crore movie on the DTH platform at Rs 1,000 for the Tamil version and Rs 500 for the Hindi and Telugu versions.
Apart from Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, the Confederation of Theatre Owners and Distributors Associations had also opposed Haasan’s plans to first release his movie on DTH .
Haasan is the second Bollywood personality to approach CCI in recent times. Late last year, actor-producer Ajay Devgn had made a complaint with the fair trade regulator alleging abuse of dominance by Yash Raj Films.
Devgn had alleged that Yash Raj Films was using its dominant position to ask exhibitors to dedicate more screens to its own upcoming release, Shahrukh Khan-starrer Jab Tak Hai Jaan, affecting Devgn’s film Son of Sardaar, both of which were to be released on the same day. However, turning down Devgn’s plea, CCI maintained there were no violations of competition law in that case.
CCI likely to penalise theatres over Vishwaroopam | Business Standard
.
