Saraswathi theatre, that was entertaining the cine buffs for around three decades, has downed its shutters citing heavy loss due to Covid pandemic.
Saraswathi theatre in Saraswathipuram was one of the big theatres in the city. This has met the same fate of Shantala and Lakshmi theatres. No films were screened for the last one and a half years.
Screening popular Kannada films, the theatre was sought after by those coming to the city from rural pockets and also to the residents of Kuvempunagar, Ramakrishnanagar, Jayalakshmipuram, Bogadi, Paduvarahalli and other places.
It also attracted more people as the show timings of Saraswathi theatre were different from other theatres.
While a few films have completed 50 days, Dr Vishnuvardhan's Aptamitra ran for more than 100-days in the theatre. Most of the films starring Puneeth Rajkumar were screened here.
Theatre owner C G Narayana told DH, "As most of the films are released via OTT platform people have got used to watching films from their houses. We are facing losses for the last two years. As it was not profitable to run the theatre, it has been closed."
"The tax policy of the corporation has been causing loss to the theatre owners. It is 300 % more in Mysuru than in Bengaluru. We have to pay Rs 4.5 lakh per year without any income. It is doubtful for the people to return to theatres even if Covid comes under control. It has become difficult to manage the bills, salaries to the workers and other expenditures."