JOIN USNo show! Most theatres shut again
A handful of theatres opened in Bengaluru on October 15, but shut down again after just a week of operations.
With barely 15 to 20 people turning up for a show, theatre owners say the collections don’t even cover hall maintenance. But some cinema halls are braving the odds and continue to be open.
Theatres in Bengaluru reopened after six months, screening Kannada films whose run was interrupted by the lockdown in March.
Producers aren’t willing to release big-budget films, given that seating restrictions are in place. Only 50 per cent occupancy is now allowed.
New films in languages other than Kannada will be available from next week, with cinema halls in neighbouring states opening on November 1.
“Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh will open their theatres in November and if we see new releases there, it makes sense to open theatres here,” says K V Chandrasekhar, president, Karnataka Film Exhibitors’ Association.
R R Odugoudar, Chairman of Karnataka Film Exhibitors Federation, is firm that the 500-odd members of the federation will not reopen their halls till their problems are satisfactorily resolved.
Theatres in cities like Mysuru, Hassan, Mandya, Udupi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Haveri, Davanagere, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Chitradurga, Koppal, Bidar, Kalaburagi and Raichur have not opened at all.
Annual licence
The federation is asking the government, among other things, to reduce the licence fee.
“This has gone up from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1.2 lakh in two years. It is impossible for us to pay this amount,” says Odugoudar.
He also demands that the power rates for theatres be deemed industrial and not commercial, as it is now.
“The property tax varies from place to place and from municipality to municipality. We feel this should be made consistent to ensure financial stability for us,” says Odugoudar.
He also points out that many theatres in semi-urban areas have closed down. He wants cinema hall owners and Kannada film producers to agree on a revenue-sharing model, and not work on a model where theatres pay producers and advance. “Some theatres and all multiplexes are already functioning this way,” he says.
Prasanna experience
S T Anand, owner of G T Mall (where Pramod theatre once stood) on Magadi Road, also owns single-screen Prasanna.
Prasanna is the oldest surviving theatre in Bengaluru, inaugurated in 1974 by Dr Rajkumar. It stopped screenings a week after its reopening on October 15.
“I have to spend at least Rs 3 lakh a month on maintenance. The power bill alone comes to Rs 1 lakh. It is not working out,” he told Metrolife.
“About 4,000 people came to the mall in a day and many were cinema audiences. Now, we see less than 500 and they go to the food courts and retail stores. Visits to the cinema are rare,” he says.
Chandrashekar says new safety rules have increased maintenance costs by 20 per cent. Kannada movies such as ‘Shivarjun’, ‘Shivaji Surathkal’, ‘Love Mocktail’, ‘Third Class’, ‘5 Adi 7 Angula’, ‘Kaanadante Maayavaada’ have hit the screen again. Released just before the pandemic broke out. Theatres had to stop screening because of the lockdowns. Karnataka has 650 single-screen, 140 in Bengaluru alone. Total multiplexes across the state is 60 with 260 screens.
Producers have been demanding that digital service providers UFO and Qube refrain from their collecting virtual print fee (VPF) for at least two years, says
D K Ramakrishna, president of Kannada Film Producers Association. “They have said they would reduce the weekly VPF by 50 per cent till December, but that doesn’t reduce our financial burden. So we have asked them to give it free of cost for a two-year period,” he says.
Couples shy away
The alternate-seat occupancy rule has not gone down well with couples and families. Every other seat has been sealed off with tapes and multiplexes don’t take bookings for side-by-side seats. This is a big put off for families and couples, says a theatre owner.