Demand waiver of entertainment tax on films with Telugu titles

While owners of single-screen theatres in Maharashtra have decided to shut down for a week from March 25 demanding waiver of entertainment tax, theatre owners in Andhra Pradesh are also pressing with a similar demand. In Maharashtra, theatres pay entertainment tax up to 45 per cent, whereas in Andhra Pradesh it is only 16 per cent. Theatre owners in both Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are citing the examples of Rajasthan and Punjab, where there is no such entertainment tax, and Tamil Nadu where the tax is negligible.

Film exhibitors in Andhra Pradesh pay upwards of Rs 125 crore annually to the state government as entertainment tax. With the amount being substantial, official sources said the state government has not reacted positively to the demand of theatre owners. "The state government is lukewarm to the demand being made by film exhibitors because of the revenue that will be lost if the demand is met. But we are still pursuing with the demand and have put it forward once again to the Kiran Kumar government," a film exhibitor said.

However, as an alternative, cinema owners are suggesting to the state government that it waive entertainment tax on films with Telugu titles. At present, Hindi, English films and other Indian language films have to pay an entertainment tax of 24 per cent. With the trend of Telugu films being given English or even Hindi titles on the increase, the theatre owners are of the opinion that it affects the audience flow into the theatres especially in the rural areas. "Since the film does not have a Telugu title, people do not come in to watch the movie as they do think it could be a Hindi or English movie," a film exhibitor said.

Of late, it may be mentioned here, with filmmakers tilting more towards the urban audiences, films are being given English or even Hindi titles. For example, a top hero's forthcoming film is said to be titled `Mr Perfect' and another hero's film `Oh my friend' and hero Nitin's next film which is to be released soon is titled `Maaro' in Hindi. Another film titled `LBW' was released recently. Films like `Orange', `Awaara', `Darling' and `Leader' were released in recent times. Actor Nagarjuna, in particular, has been fascinated with non-Telugu titles for his films which included `Don', `King', and `Mass'.