JOIN USTheatre owners urge govt to open cinemas before Dussehra: Report
Cinema halls continue to bear the massive blow triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, and theatre owners have begun to urge the government to reopen these spaces by the Dussehra weekend in October.
Various members of the film fraternity, cinema and multiplex owners, and film trade members met with senior officials of the Home, Information, and Broadcasting Ministries and a response has been assured within the next few days on whether these places will be ‘unlocked’ or not.
“We have requested the government to allow us to reopen cinemas with 50 per cent capacity. Their main concern, as of now, is the seating of people in closed auditoriums where the virus spreads faster at a time when the number of cases is on the rise," said Sunil N Narang, secretary of the Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce and managing director of Asian Cinema Theatres, according to a report by Mint.
Ever since the implementation of the lockdown, the film industry has been economically impacted as the entire process from production to airing/ screening has been prohibited.
The spaces require a large crew and practicing social distancing and other precautionary measures is not an easy task.
Another issue is the release of the films, and according to film trade and exhibition expert Girish Johar, “Even if theatres did reopen, there is no content to play." Producers are choosing online streaming platforms, which could further affect cinema halls.
The film industry is hoping for theatres to open up by Dussehra, particularly Diwali. The report added that Katragadda Prasad, President of South India Film Chamber of Commerce, expressed his woes on the huge losses incurred, and is expects cinema halls to reopen by October 1.
Akshay Kumar’s Sooryanvanshi is scheduled to release during Diwali in November, probably on big screens.
Coronavirus lockdowns are said to have created a dent of Rs 3,000 crore for the movie screening industry, reporting a loss of 12 per cent.