strike by bollywood producers against the money backlog & huge prices of multiplexes ENDS

Mukesh Bhatt,
chairman of the United Forum for Bollywood Producers and Distributors

India's Bollywood film producers have called off a two-month strike staged amid differences over sharing revenue with multi-screen cinemas. Producer Mukesh Bhatt, who represented the producers during the stand-off, confirmed that the strike was over. The two parties settled their differences at a 14-hour meeting, Mr Bhatt said, and both emerged happy.

Producers wanted a 50% share in the revenues generated by the multiplex owners , while owners said that the producers' share should be lower if a film performed poorly.

The deal was settled at 50, 42, 35 and 30 percent for the first, second, third and fourth week respectively for all movies and 52, 45, 38 and 30 percent respectively for all blockbuster movies.

Bollywood producers went on strike in early April after failing to settle differences with multi-screen cinemas. During the strike many multiplexes showed old films, but audiences were poor and many cinemas reported major losses. Last year nearly 20 films were released during April and May, almost half of them big budget, star-studded productions - and many hits were delivered.

Multiplex cinemas have boomed in India in recent years, especially in the cities, and now account for almost 70% of the $2bn (£1.4bn)-a-year Hindi film industry. Many producers now make films for release only at multiplex cinemas. India’s filmed entertainment sector, estimated at about $2.2 billion, is forecast to grow by more than 9% every year over the next five years, according to consultants KPMG.