After screening extra shows for Salman Khan's Tiger 3, Tirupur Subramaniam resigns

Popular Tamil distributor and exhibitor Tirupur Subramaniam has stepped down from his role as the president of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association. On Thursday, he arranged a press conference to announce the decision amid facing an inquiry into the screening of early morning special shows for Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's Tiger 3 in his theatres. 

"I have always said that I am very honest in my business transactions. But, recently, my technical support team arranged special screenings for that Hindi film (Tiger 3). Because they assumed only Tamil films must be screened after 9 am. And they screened the Hindi film at 7 AM on about six screens," Subramaniam explained. 

Subramaniam also revealed that he has received a notice from the government and is prepared to comply with any ensuing action. "It was wrong to violate the government guidelines. And I feel I cannot continue in this position under these circumstances," he said, explaining his decision to resign from all his official positions in the Tamil film industry. 

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The Tamil Nadu government banned early morning shows in the state earlier this year. And as per the existing mandate, theatres are permitted to run a maximum of four shows per day , with the first show commencing not earlier than 9 AM, except on Sundays and holidays. Theatres require special permission from the government to run an additional show for new films.

Subramaniam suggested that the backlash he received for screening special shows for Tiger 3 was the main reason for his resignation. The 72-year-old businessman is known for holding several theatres in Tirupur and is an influential person in the Tamil film industry. 

This recent controversy follows Subramaniam's verbal feud with producer Lalit Kumar of Seven Screen Studios over the blockbuster film Leo. Subramaniam had made strong remarks, accusing the producer of unethical practices to maximize gains on Leo at the expense of other stakeholders.