Producer Lalit Kumar defends Leo profit-sharing terms amid allegations

Leo producer Lalit Kumar was accused of exploiting the situation to maximise his profits at the expense of the other stakeholders, particularly theatre owners.

Poster for Leo

Thalapathy Vijay's latest movie Leo is no stranger to controverises. The movie has sparked many heated debates on social media and dominated news headlines since it went on the floors earlier this year.

Despite all the controversies, Leo was opened in cinemas to a rousing reception from fans worldwide. Since its release, the movie's box office collection has been the subject of a lot of speculation and allegations.

Producer Lalit Kumar was accused of exploiting the situation to maximise his profits at the expense of the other stakeholders, particularly theatre owners. Some of the high-profile theatre owners in Tamil Nadu have alleged that Lalit Kumar forced them into agreeing to share 80 per cent of the profits from ticket sales during the movie's first week.

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Many claimed that this was unprecedented, as no producer in the past, had claimed such a huge share of a theatre's profits. Tirupur Subramaniam, film distributor and head of Tamil Nadu's Theatre Owners Association, is spearheading the allegations against Lalit. He even alleged that Lalit wanted to sell tickets for the 9 AM show of Leo on the opening day for a staggering Rs 500.

In a recent interview, Lalit slammed all the critics, including Subramaniam, while alleging a personal vendetta behind such a smear campaign.

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"I also released Varisu. I distributed Leo on the same terms as Varisu for 96 per cent of theatres. We released it on 1000 screens in Tamil Nadu. And theatres in the 'C' centres will be on the outskirts. For those theatres, I have taken an 80 per cent share. I have charged this percentage for 42 theatres. Because in C centres, there will be only four or five theatres. In such theatres, the company will decrease from the second day itself," said Lalit.

"He (Subramaniam) asked me about the distribution rights of the film in the Coimbatore area. And I didn't give him that. This could also be a reason. Maybe that's why he's talking like that," he added.

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