Leash tightened: A-list stars must shift to profit-sharing deals: TFPC

CHENNAI: Leading stars of Tamil Cinema, whose remunerations that run into several tens of crores and form a substantial chunk of the production cost, must shift to profit-sharing deals, demanded the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) on Sunday.

This was one of the 23 resolutions adopted by the council’s 2025 general body meeting in Egmore on Sunday.

While the council puts forth the request during every annual meeting, it adopted it as a demand this time, citing the poor run that the industry has been witnessing in the last few months. Another oft-repeated demand that was raised as a resolution this time was for actors to focus on theatrical releases instead of web series for OTT platforms.

According to the resolution, A-list stars like Rajinikanth and Ajith Kumar must shift to a profit-sharing arrangement, keeping in mind the drastic losses incurred in satellite and digital rights even for star-studded films in the recent past.

Talking to DT Next, TFPC president Murali Ramasamy pointed out that Dhanush was one of the first stars in recent times to venture into profit sharing. “This will take some time but it will surely happen before other stars too agree to this. If they don’t, producing films will be more difficult. Some A-listers have started signing films for producers from other states, but even those films ended up being flops. Very soon, production companies from other states, too, will foray into the profit-sharing model.”

Commenting on the resolution asking actors to shift their focus from web series, he said the remuneration for web series is much higher than films. “The salary they charge for a web series is higher and when they come back to films, small-time producers are unable to afford them,” he added.

Murali also lashed out at the release window of films on OTT platforms. Arguing that producers were the ones who invest in films, he asked how another entity (OTTs) could interfere in release dates.

“Were there any big-hero films that released this Deepavali? They released on non-festival days this year, only because some OTT platform wanted a big film in the next four weeks. They have started calling the shots, which has severely impacted the small and medium-budget producers. We adopted these resolutions only because the industry has to remain healthy,” he said.