Regional film industries should come together against GST :

Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee today said that all regional film industries should come together to find a way out of the situation post GST.
"Of course the GST has affected us. But it has affected not only the Bengali film industry but the entire industry film industry of the nation. So I think we (all regional film industries) have to find a way out collectively. We have to stand united against this (GST)," Chatterjee said on the sidelines of the 89th AGM of Indian Chamber of Commerce here today.
"We in the Bengali film industry cannot do anything alone against GST overnight. There has been a national movement against it and we will also be a part of it. I do not think going alone for any movement against GST will yield any result. Let's see," Prosenjit said.

The actor said that initially the Bengali film industry was mulling the option of shutting down cinema theatres in the state to protest against the roll out of the GST.
"We had decided to shut down the cinema halls but the idea was shelved because two movies, acted and produced by two of our Bengali heroes, (Dev's 'Champ' and Jeet's 'Boss2') are currently being shown in the theatres," he said.
Prosenjit while saying he was personally was for the shut down, sounded sceptical whether it would have any positive yield for the Bengali film industry in its fight against GST.

"I do not know ... I do not think that there would be any result by closing down the cinema halls. In the past we had so many movements without shutting down. I have witnessed so many turbulences in my career of 34-35 years," he said.

Expressing his gratitude to the state government for giving rebates of seven per cent to viewers for tickets priced Rs 100 and below for films in regional languages like Bengali, Nepali and Santhali.
For tickets above Rs 100, the state government has been offering a rebate of 12 per cent on its share of 14 per cent on the entertainment tax.

"Because of the GST rates of tickets have gone up. But we are thankful to our state government because of the rebate it is offering for our films. Around seven per cent rebate is quite high," Prosenjit said.
However, if a film was good the audience would not mind paying more to watch it. "So making a good film is more important," he said.