Last month, the Nizam exhibitors of the disaster movie Liger protested for compensation from Puri Jagannadh, Charmme, and Nizam distributor, Warangal Srinu, due to their huge losses. Suniel Narang of Asian cinemas also had a due of 3 Crore from Puri and Charmme.
Suniel is one of the most prominent exhibitors in Nizam distribution, and he came out in support of the small exhibitors and joined the protest. Recently, the M9News team spoke exclusively to Suneil Narang, where he explained the whole issue.
Suniel Narang, who generally stays away from any kind of controversy, said, “After Liger failed severely, the small exhibitors demanded money from Warangal Srinu who became unavailable and even switched off his phone. Puri Jagannadh and Charmme had agreed to compensate for their losses. There was no direct communication between the producers and the exhibitors, but Charmme was in contact with the Film Chamber.”
He added, “The exhibitors said they didn’t have the right to go and ask Puri to compensate some of the losses. They can only ask Srinu. I warned Srinu when he was buying Liger for such high prices that he was taking a big risk. But he didn’t listen to me. Srinu went unavailable, as he too went into depression after Liger’s failure, and even switched off his phone. This created confusion and panic among the distributors. I had to intervene being the chamber president and stand with the exhibitor’s community. I didn’t oppose or support anyone; I just wanted the issue to be resolved.”
Suniel Narang said, “After two days, I mediated between TFPC secretary Prasanna Kumar and the exhibitors, and Prasanna Kumar gave them assurance that the issue would be resolved soon. Only then the protest was called off.”
Suniel Narang has now also been elected as the President of the Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce Governing Council. He will hold this position from 2023 to 2025.
