EIMPA makes UFO reduce the digital projection charge. Will QUBE follow suit?

Eastern India Motion Pictures Association, also known as EIMPA, took a positive move to help Bengali cinema financially. After a long fight, the digital cinema company UFO reduced the digital projection charge of Bengali films by almost one-third. So, distributors and producers will have to spend less to show Bengali films. 

EIMPA said that, while Hindi and other language films cost Rs 5,500 to run for seven days in a cinema hall in Bengal, Bengali films cost Rs 7,000. That cost will be reduced. 

Pia Sengupta, the president of EIMPA, told Sangbad Pratidin Digital, “Discussion with UFO officials ran for a long time and there were long meetings. After that, UFO agreed to reduce the digital projection charge. Now, Bengali films will cost Rs 2100 for a week, along with the GST. So, the daily cost will be from 300 to 500.” EIMPA officially announced the decision in a press conference on Wednesday. 

The Tollywood producers and directors are happy with the decision. In an interview with Pratidin, Atanu Ghosh, “This is good news for Bengali cinema. Any regional film will benefit from such an initiative. But I think we should also think about the high cost of the tickets at the multiplexes.’ Firdausul Hasan, producer of Anik Dutta’s film Aparajito, said, “Excellent initiative. It will benefit Bengali films and the box office battle with the other languages will be a bit easier.” 

Producer Rana Sarkar wrote an open letter to SVF owner and men behind QUBE Srikant Mohta and Mahendra Soni. He wrote, “‘Dear Srikant da and Moni da, you certainly heard the news that UFO reduced the Digital Projection Charge of Bengali films by a third–an EIMPA initiative. Till now, Bengali films cost the most in India for digital projection, a lot more than Hindi or South Indian films. There have been many movements against such discrimination. We also tried a lot to reduce the charge but to no avail.”

He further added, “Now UFO agreed to reduce the weekly charge of 7000 to only 2100. But Srikant da/Moni da, you know that UFO does not have many halls. A majority of the halls have SVF’s QUBE projection system. Srikant da/Moni da, SVF has nourished Bengali films for a long time. Now please, reduce the charge of QUBE like UFO. Then small producers like me will be encouraged to make more films. We want only Srikant da and Moni da in such a bad time for Bengali films. Please reduce the charge of QUBE.”