3 min readHyderabadApr 26, 2026 05:19 PM IST
The Tamil film industry woke up to a significant shift on Sunday as the Tamil Film Producers Council held its general body meeting and passed a resolution that could fundamentally change how its biggest films are made and how the talent in them are paid.
According to their resolution, going forward, medium and big-budget Tamil films will be produced under a revenue-sharing model. The traditional system, in which actors and key technicians receive fixed remuneration regardless of how a film performs at the box office, will no longer apply to productions in those categories. Under the new model, the principal cast and key technicians will share both the profits and the losses with producers, directly tying their earnings to the film’s commercial outcome.
To signal that intent, the TFPC has announced a one-day token strike on May 2. The strike is described as a symbolic gesture for now, a way of demonstrating that producers are united behind this demand and are prepared to act on it. But the council has made clear that the token strike is only the beginning. If the Nadigar Sangam, the association that represents actors in Tamil Nadu, does not cooperate with the revenue-sharing model, the one-day token strike will be escalated into a continuous strike, which would effectively bring Tamil film production to a halt.
Also Read – ‘Give me one rupee’: How Rajinikanth built Tamil cinema’s profit-sharing idea from the ground up
The council has also passed resolutions on OTT release windows: big-budget films must wait six to eight weeks before premiering on streaming platforms, mid-range films are given a six-week window, and smaller productions have a shorter interval.
A continuous strike, if it comes to that, would affect not just actors but the thousands of technicians, daily wage workers, and crew members who depend on Tamil film production for their livelihood. The human cost of a prolonged shutdown extends well beyond the stars whose fees are at the centre of the argument.
Story continues below this ad
This is not the first time the TFPC has pushed for revenue sharing. The council had raised the demand at its 2025 general body meeting as well, urging A-list stars including Kamal Haasan, Vijay, Ajith, Suriya, Dhanush, Sivakarthikeyan, Silambarasan TR, and Vishal to cooperate with a model that ensures fairer revenue sharing and reduced production risk.
