India is a nation who loves film so much that the nation's own movies are popular all over the world. However, one part of the country is closing down all their theaters as an act of protest. The issue is in regards to a new tax that has been introduced in India. While the new 28 percent goods and services tax covers the entire nation, the problem is that in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu there is already a 30 percent entertainment tax and the new GST stacks on top of that. While other Indian states have withdrawn some local taxes in order to balance things out, Tamil Nadu has not, which has theater owners afraid that movies will become too expensive for people to attend.This has led over 1,000 theaters in the region to shut down until the next time they meet with the state government to discuss the tax.
This is a particularly big deal, according to the Washington Post, because Tamil Nadu is the home of Kollywood, one of the most popular regional film industries in the nation. You're likely familiar with the term Bollywood, which is the name of the regional film industry in Mumbai (Bombay). Kollywood is a similar idea, which has been growing in popularity and has produced films that rival Bollywood. The region loves movies and movie stars but will not be able to experience them until this issue is settled.
Hopes are that the issues will be resolved before the weekend which is when theaters do the majority of their business, though the WP says that many theaters in India end up packed even on weekdays, which helps to show just how popular movies are in the country. Several major movie stars from the region have gone on to hold high political office and businesses have been known to just give employees the day off when major films are released, simply to avoid an expected influx of leave requests.
Of course, this level of popularity for movies in India is exactly the problem. Because movies are loved so much, it means that taxing them can result in a steady stream of revenue for the government. It's understandable that both the federal and state governments will want to use that to help fund the policies and programs the governments want to implement. Of course, if the new tax does result in fewer people going to the theater because it's too expensive, then the tax will lose out on that revenue. Although it seems it should be pointed out that, with the theaters all closed, it will be impossible to tell what the result of the new tax actually is.
