Tamil Nadu theatre owners push Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and other A-list stars to take pay cuts amid deepening industry crisis

Tamil Nadu theatre owners push Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and other A-list stars to take pay cuts amid deepening industry crisis

Tamil Nadu’s exhibition sector has hit a breaking point, and theatre owners are now pushing the conversation into uncomfortable territory. For the first time in years, the Tamil Nadu Theatres Association has openly urged A-list stars like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan to consider salary cuts, arguing that the current financial model is no longer sustainable. Tirupur Subramaniam, who heads the association, said the crisis has been building for months and has now reached a stage where urgent intervention is unavoidable.

It was just a year ago that theatre owners had asked the state government to raise the ticket cap from 220 to 250, enforce an eight-week theatrical window before OTT release, and permit additional commercial activities inside theatres. None of that materialised, Subramaniam said, and the fallout is now visible across the state.

According to him, the post-pandemic OTT boom distorted the market. Streamers paid enormous sums for content, and star salaries shot up in response. Several big actors reportedly began charging around 140 crore per film, a number that producers agreed to in hopes of securing box office momentum. Rising budgets, however, collided with a cooling OTT market, and many corporate production houses ended up absorbing heavy losses. Theatres, already operating on thin margins, began to feel the strain when films failed to deliver profits or even meet break-even expectations.

The problem didn’t end there. With the current four-week theatrical-to-OTT window, producers have been prioritising digital sales. Subramaniam said this has left theatres with fewer films, shorter runs and almost no major Tamil releases for months. He warned that 2026 looks even drier, with only Vijay’s Jana Nayagan and Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2 confirmed so far.

Trade analyst Ramesh Bala told NDTV that B and C centres are suffering the worst hit. Many producers are now releasing films only in Chennai and other major cities, leaving smaller towns with empty screens that open only on weekends. At the same time, OTT platforms have cut acquisition budgets, meaning producers risk losing even more money if the theatrical window is extended to eight weeks.

The Tamil Film Producers Council tried to stabilise the system in November by mandating an eight-week OTT window for A-list films and a six-week window for B-list films. They have also asked top stars including Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijay, Ajith, Dhanush, Sivakarthikeyan and Suriya to shift to profit-linked models instead of demanding full salaries upfront.

Also Read: Salman Khan ventures announces Rs 10,000 crore mega township in Telangana

Producer-distributor G. Dhananjayan said the ask is simple: actors must adapt to a market where satellite and digital rights no longer guarantee safety nets. Even big films struggle today, he said, and OTT buyers are selective.

As theatre owners prepare for Tuesday’s meeting with the state government, the core question hangs in the air: can Tamil cinema survive without restructuring how its biggest stars are paid? The answer will shape the industry’s next chapter.