About 40 exhibitors from both Telugu states met in Hyderabad recently and decided that theaters can't survive without limiting films from going to OTT platforms for eight weeks after their theatrical release.
They presented this idea during today's Executive Committee meeting of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce.
Producers who are part of the EC have agreed to the proposal.
Suresh Babu, Suniel Narang, Dil Raju, and Tagore Madhu were some of the attendees.
The EC has decided to form a committee that will talk with the Producers Council and the Active Producers Guild to reach an agreement.
Once a decision is made, a cut-off date will be set.
Agreements made before that date, and films that are more than 60% complete, will be allowed to break the rule. All other films must strictly follow the '8 Weeks OTT Window Rule'.
This rule is already in place in the North, where PVR-INOX chain will not show a film unless it has an 8 Weeks OTT Window.
However, the same chain does not enforce this rule in Telugu states because they are a minority.
The problem in Tollywood is that some big exhibitors and lease owners are also producers who rely on OTT money to make films.
The cut-off date must be handled carefully, as after the pandemic, when the industry introduced the 'No Direct OTT' rule, many producers tried to break it by using back-dated agreements.
