GST impact on Tamil cinema: Rajinikanth urges TN govt to reduce high taxation on movies, Kamal Haasan thanks him for support

Southern superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have urged the Tamil Nadu government to accept the plea of the film industry and reduce the burden on movies by exempting Kollywood from high taxation.

Recently, the union government announced 28 percent GST on movies which came as a rude shock to the regional film industry. While some state governments went to support their film industries, Tamil Nadu has burdened the Kollywood with some extra taxes. The irked Tamil filmmakers have shut down the cinema halls and production activities for the last few days in a protest against the government.

Many celebs raised their voice against the Tamil Nadu government over the GST impact on cinema, but the voice of Rajinikanth was missing, as he was in the US for a health checkup. The superstar took to Twitter to voice his support on Tuesday night and wrote: "Keeping in mind the livelihood of lakhs of people in the Tamil film industry, I sincerely request the TN GOVT to seriously consider our plea."

Hours after his tweet, Kamal Haasan‏ took to his Twitter handle to thank Rajinikanth for voicing his support for the Tamil film industry. The superstar tweeted: "Thanks Rajni avaragaLay for voicing your concern. Lets request first as gentlemen should. Then we shall see. @superstarrajini & TN .Govt."

A day before Rajini made a comment on the impact of GST, Kamal Haasan had blasted the Tamil Nadu government for intentionally creating troubles for the film industry. "Filmmaking has been made difficult deliberately. There are further tortures and systemic corruption that the film Industry has to endure under this regime," IANS quoted the superstar as saying.

The governments in neighbouring southern states like Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have gone on to facilitate the well being of the film Industry. A Rs-100 ticket in these states would cost Rs 118 post-GST, but the audience in Tamil Nadu have to spend Rs 148 for the same ticket. This high taxation is definitely discouraging and will make the film goers stay away from the cinema halls.

Tamil film industry is already suffering huge losses due to piracy and other issues and now the GST has turned out to be another bane. Kamal Haasan feels that the protest will be intensified if the government does not take immediate action. The film industry is one among the many industries asphyxiated by the prevailing systemic corruption in the state. I anticipate even stronger protests soon," he added.