Bangalore: With no response from the Centre on the memorandum submitted by South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC) and Film Federation of India (FFI), to withdraw the service tax on the film industry, the two bodies jointly observed a one-day bandh on Thursday. As a mark of protest, more than 850 theatres across the state remained closed.
Film producer and board member of the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce Umesh Banakar said, "Due to the bandh on the theatres, and cancellation of filming activities, such as recording, for a day, the state has incurred a loss of about Rs 200 crore." He demanded the Union government to withdraw the service tax and relieve the entire film industry of the unnecessary financial burden.
"It is well-known that the film industry is deteriorating by the day for various reasons. The newly-levied service tax is an additional burden on the industry, which is already remitting other taxes to the government, including entertainment tax," said film industry board members on condition of anonymity.
All artistes of the Kannada film industry, including actors Sudeep and Punith Rajkumar, film producers, exhibitors, directors and other technicians associated with the industry participated in the bandh by halting all related activities.
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