AC plays villain

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thursday began on the wrong note for Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob thanks to a steaming hot, government cinema hall and a near-dead air conditioner. The Minister and his wife Anila were among scores of people who turned up at the Kerala State Film Development Corporation’s (KSFDC) Kairali Theatre to watch the premiere of the Malayalam film ‘Little Master.’The Minister, wife and the rest of the crowd walked into a movie hall which was in the process of being hastily cleaned, and dust swirled about. Tactfully ignoring it, they sat down, eagerly waiting for the movie to begin. Time went by and the organisers of the premiere were seen frantically asking the theatre-in-charge to switch on the air conditioner, but nothing happened. ‘’I had booked the theatre ten days back, and had asked them to make all the necessary arrangements. I don’t know what has gone wrong,’’ said L Rajendran, director of the movie. With the AC playing dead, the fans were switched on, which swept up a rather warm breeze. Reportedly, Anoop and Anila left before the end of the movie. The villain AC, said to be decades old, has been an inconsistent performer for some time, according to KSFDC officials. They have not bothered to replace it as the renovation of the theatre is set to begin by June 15. ‘’We are planning to renovate the theatre into a multiplex with first class facilities. The air conditioner in the theatre is 31 years old, which makes its functioning at times unreliable,’’ KSFDC chairman Sabu Cherian said. ‘’These problems will be solved within a few months when the theatre is renovated. The plan is ready, we are now waiting for the estimate approval. The renovation is expected to begin by June 15,’’ he said.