Producers' Association files complaint against Minimax for allegedly cheating Jio Cinema over OTT rights.

 

The Kerala Film Producers Association has alleged that producers were widely duped into selling the OTT rights of films for Reliance-owned streaming platform Jio Cinema. The meeting of the governing body of the manufacturers' association held on June 25 decided to take legal action against the Kochi-based company Minimax. The Producers Association had asked Jio Cinema representatives whether Jio Cinema had appointed anyone in Kerala to buy the OTT rights. B. Rakesh, President of the Producers Association, told Q Studio that Jio Cinemas replied to the Producers Association that they have not assigned anyone to buy the OTT rights. Following this, the Producers Association has taken legal action against this incident and has decided to file a complaint against the producers who are exaggerating the collection of films, against the PR agencies acting as intermediaries and against the individuals who make financial gains through film reviews.

Producers Association press release:

The Kerala Film Producers Association meeting held on 25.06.2024 expressed concern over the serious issues currently existing in the Malayalam film sector and decided to take further steps.

The matter was brought to the notice of the authorities of Jio Cinemas on the basis of information that some people were exploiting the producers on the assurance of selling the OTT rights of the films to Jio Cinemas, but against the firm Minimax who had cheated based on the evidence available in this matter as Jio Cinemas replied that no one had been entrusted to buy the OTT rights. The meeting also decided to take legal action against the persons related to it. Currently, there is a trend of crowding theaters to inflate the collection of many films. As it is not good for the industry at all, it has been decided to take strict action against the producers who take such actions, to take necessary legal action against the PR agencies working as middlemen and to file a complaint with the concerned agency demanding that strong action be taken as per the law prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards against the persons who make financial gains through movie reviews.

B Rakesh previously told Q Studio:

Many agencies are approaching some producers to buy the OTT rights saying that it is for a Jio movie. So we sent a letter to all the OTTs in the event of a complaint. Then they, especially Jio, said that they have not mandated anyone to take the money. That means it is a fake. We have informed all the members through the media about the mail of Jio that no one has been handed over to buy money. Although there are three or four companies behind it, the name of one company is said as the main one. So far no one has written and submitted that they have lost money. We can take action only after receiving a return complaint. But we are discussing this issue based on the discussion with those manufacturers. I want to know if this is happening for sure.

Jio Cinemas has not bought the OTT rights of a single Malayalam movie so far. Another prominent OTT It is reported that Jio has put on hold the decision to buy movies after Disney decided to join hands with the platform Hotstar.