Vijay Sethupathi requests ‘Vaathi’ TN CM Vijay for an OTT platform, to increase ticket prices: ‘Becoming difficult’

At the audio launch of Parimala & Co, Vijay Sethupathi had a special request for the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, C Joseph Vijay.

Actor Vijay Sethupathi attended the audio launch of Pandiraj’s upcoming film Parimala & Co, starring Jayaram and Urvashi. As he took to the stage, the audience members began chanting ‘Vaathi’ (teacher/master), referring to his Master co-star and current chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Vijay. The actor made two requests to make Kollywood better.

Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi starred together in Lokesh Kanagaraj's 2021 film Master.

Vijay Sethupathi’s requests for CM Vijay

Sethupathi referred to Kamal Haasan’s recent note, requesting Vijay to launch an OTT platform by the government. He said, “I have an important request for the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Vijay sir. As Kamal sir asked, it would be very good if the Tamil Nadu government started an OTT soon. OTT was such a booming market; it rose and then fell, I don’t know why. It’s creating a lot of confusion in business terms. So, it would be great if you could channel it a little bit.”

While Kamal asked Vijay to give permission for five shows per day to boost theatre revenue, Sethupathi had another request. He said, “Secondly, theatre ticket prices have not been rising for many years. The price of everything else has gone up. So, it would be good if theatre ticket prices were to be increased. I think you should consider it a little. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. The cost of production has gone up, but the ticket rate has remained the same for years. It’s very difficult, even though they’re managing by selling digital rights.”

Kamal had also recently requested that Vijay abolish the local body entertainment tax, form a strong anti-piracy team, implement a mandatory 8-week OTT window, and incentivise film production.

Vishal criticises Vijay over choice of film ministry

Ever since Vijay took charge as the CM of TN, his colleagues have been requesting him for changes on social media. After he announced his cabinet, Vishal criticised him for his choice of the film ministry. “Happy to see #CMJosephVijay allocating ministries to respective elected MLAs but it's disheartening to see honorable minister #Rajmohan to be in charge as minister of Film Technology and Cinematograph Act,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

He also added, “How would I or we as a body or as an association render our requests or grievances of our film industry which is actually bleeding and so many reforms to be made and give a ray of hope for the fraternity especially producers /production houses to someone who has lesser or no experience of wat is happening in our industry more than our CM who was and is part of the industry from grassroot level and being part of the fraternity for last 30 years.”

Vishal also put forth requests for the betterment of Kollywood, urging Vijay to introduce a government ticketing window, abolish local body tax, and increase subsidy for small films.