Box office reality dawns on dream merchants

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The corporatise-Bollywood brigade is making an attempt to regulate an area
long neglected: the box office. Hits or flops, the box office is bad news
for them, cry producers, because thanks to cinema hall owners and
distributors, they finally get very little revenue from the sale of tickets.
So one item on the agenda of Zee Rajshri Distribution, formed this week when
Zee Telefilms entered into an alliance with Rajshri Pictures for
distribution of films in the country, is to straighten up the box office
collections. "The problems stem from high entertainment tax and the
exhibitor's inclination to avoid tax payment," agrees Amit Khanna,
chairperson, Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd. "Under-declaration of box
office receipts is the easiest way out. Unlike in the US, Europe or Japan,
no professional market research company here compiles cinema attendance
data," he says.
Source:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031213/asp/nation/story_2675085.asp