Thalapathy Vijay's 'Jana Nayagan' vs 'Parasakthi' clash; Theatre owners question revenue share; 75% to 80% demand sparks worry

Thalapathy Vijay starrer 'Jana Nayagan' and Sivakarthikeyan’s 'Parasakthi' are two major films lined up for release. Both films have strong buzz among the audience. According to theatre owners, Jana Nayagan is getting around 75% audience response, while Parasakthi is seeing nearly 80% audience interest in many centres.

Even with these strong numbers theatre owners say they are struggling.Tiruppur Subramaniam who is the President of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, spoke to Puthiya Thalaimurai, in detail about the problem they are facing. He said the makers of Jana Nayagan are asking for 75% to even 80% of the theatre collection. He recalled that for Vijay’s earlier film GOAT the sharing was 75:25, which resulted in losses for theatre owners.

He believes a 50:50 or 60:40 share is more practical for everyone.

How ticket money gets divided?

Explaining the issue clearly the producer spoke about how much money actually stays with the theatre. He said, "Jana Nayagan has a 60% audience and Parasakthi has a 40% audience. Jananayakan has a 75% audience and Parasakthi has a 80% audience. A ticket costs Rs.190 and tax is Rs.42. If they charge 75% of the remaining amount, we will get only Rs.37 for a ticket."

He questioned how theatres can survive with this amount.

He asked, "Do we need to run a theatre? Can we pay salaries? Can we pay EB bills? What can we do?"

Why are theatre owners worried?

Tiruppur Subramaniam made it clear that theatre owners are not refusing to share profits. He said, "We haven't asked them to pay 40% or 30%. We are ready to pay up to 70%. But they are asking us to pay 75% or 80% in a place like Tirunelveli." He also questioned the benefit of such deals and said, "What will we get in return? What is the use of paying that money?" Talking about different regions he explained that 'Jana Nayagan' has around 60% audience in Kerala and Palakkad, while it goes up to 75% in Coimbatore.

He pointed out that even when big stars come together, such numbers are not common in Kerala. He said, "In Tamil Nadu, the reason for the lack of money is because of this. 75% is abnormal terms."

Slow bookings and release tension

He connected the high revenue demand with slow advance booking. He said, "They are asking for 75% or even 80%. That's why the booking is very slow. There is no other reason." He also denied any political or external pressure and said clearly that no government or company has forced them.

He added that this is purely business.Sivakarthikeyan also spoke about the release clash earlier. During an event Sivakarthikeyan said, “We first thought of releasing Parasakthi during Diwali 2025 but by then the Jana Nayagan team had already fixed that date. So we dropped the idea and continued working on our film with Pongal in mind. Later when the Jana Nayagan team also shifted their release to Pongal I was really shocked.”DISCLAIMER: Figures presented in this article are derived from various public sources and are considered approximate unless explicitly noted. We strive for accuracy and may include direct input from celebrities or their teams when available. Your feedback is always welcome on [email protected].