Actors payment won't figure in one-day token strike, will hold talks with AMMA again: Kerala Film Chamber

The Kerala Film Chamber and producers' body will hold a token strike soon and will meet again in Kochi this week to discuss a date. The meeting will be held at the Film Chamber's office on March 5. According to Saji Nanthyattu, general secretary of the Kerala Film Chamber, the token strike plan to address several issues, including exemption from double taxation and industry status. 

However, the high remuneration of the actors (a concern raised by the producers' association) won't figure in the token strike and a separate meeting will be held with the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) to address this concern.

Saji also said they will go ahead with the indefinite strike only based on the outcome of the token strike. Recently, the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce and producers' association met to discuss the various issues plaguing the film industry. They had also taken a strong stance against producer Antony Perumbavoor who had raised allegations against veteran producer Suresh Kumar. The film chamber, producers association, various distributors, and exhibitors' associations have joined forces for the token strike. Though the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) had initially expressed solidarity with the other film bodies, they later backtracked sharing concern over the impact of the strike on the sector. However, inside sources said office-bearers of FEFKA were unhappy with the infighting within the producers' association, which prompted them to backtrack from the strike.

The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), which had also called an emergency meeting last week, said they would not cooperate with the strike and expressed unhappiness over the allegations raised by the producers regarding the high pay of actors in the industry. They also said they won't be able to decide on the actors' remuneration till a new executive committee is formed.