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Going for movies has become a costlier affair – government bulldozed its decision on local entertainment tax over and above GST and forced the striking film fraternity to capitulate.

To give the film fraternity a face-saver, the government agreed to reduce the local tax on Tamil films in the state by a mere two per cent.So, Tamil Nadu will see Diwali new film releases, but the movie goer will have to pay more.

Now, the local entertainment tax will be 8 per cent. An agreement to this effect was reached after a delegation of the film fraternity held detailed discussions with the government. The TN Films Producers’ Council called off its strike on Friday after the government agreed to cut two per cent in entertainment tax.

“We have decided to call off the strike. We would have been happier if there was no tax at all, but the show must go on,” council president and actor Vishal told media persons.He hoped that there were no more bouncers from the government.For the film goer though the tickets will become expensive.

Actor Prakash Raj who was also present said “our effort was to ensure that the film goer is not taxed more, but we have no other option.”The government stuck to its ground on 20 per cent local entertainment tax on other language films. Only a token cut of 2 per cent has been made, so as to give the film fraternity a face saver.