Mumbai, May 6: US President Donald Trump’s announcement threatening 100 per cent tariff on movies produced outside and coming to the US will impact the box office business of Indian films and may lead to an increase in ticket prices for Indian films, say producers in India. Though there is little clarity just yet, the fear is that it will impact the footfall for Indian movies screened in the US, according to a section of industry insiders, including Shibasish Sarkar, president of the Producers Guild of India, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri and exhibitor-distributor Akshay Rathi.
“It is a little early to comment on this because whatever kind of tariff got announced in the last 30 to 45 days is going through various changes and discussions… But if it gets implemented, the first impact I foresee is on the theatrical business of our films in the US market,” Sarkar told PTI.
Indian films gross around USD 100 million (over Rs 800 crore) at the US box office, he said.
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“If this tariff is implemented, exhibitors will increase ticket prices and make it expensive for consumers because of which even footfalls will drop dramatically. If the exhibitors want to absorb the price, they will pass on that loss to producers, so their share will also come down drastically. Either way, there will be an impact on the producer’s share from a theatrical point of view,” Sarkar explained.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said on Sunday that he has authorised the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative to slap a 100 per cent tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands”.
Agnihotri, known for films such as “The Kashmir Files” and “The Tashkent Files”, agreed with Sarkar and said ticket prices of Indian movies will increase in the US if these tariffs come into effect. “The diaspora market, which is price sensitive, became a revenue source for Indian films.
Movies such as ‘Jawan’ and ‘Baahubali’ did good business outside of India. If ticket prices are doubled (in the US), I don’t think anybody will watch them in theatres, especially when the films will be available on Netflix, Amazon, etc. Films such as ‘RRR’ and ‘The Kashmir Files’ did great numbers in non-diaspora markets,” Agnihotri told PTI. (PTI)
