Mumbai: Film distributors and cinema hall owners on Wednesday welcomed Maharashtra government’s decision of opening theatres and multiplexes outside containment zones from November 5, saying preparations are in full swing to start afresh. While the call to open theatres in the state, which is the hub of the country’s Hindi film industry, has made many cinema stakeholdershappy, those who were hoping to capitalise the festival season of Diwali believe it is a development that has come “a little late”.
After the Centre allowed reopening of theatres and multiplexes on October 15, halls in several places, including Delhi and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, resumed function with stringent dos and don’ts in keeping with the new normal. However, theatres in states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Chhattisgarh had remained closed since the lockdown, which was imposed to contain COVID-19 in March. According to the state guidelines announced on Wednesday, cinema halls, multiplexes and drama theatres in Maharashtra have been allowed to operate with 50 per cent of seating capacity, with no eatables allowed inside. Physical distancing and sanitisation must be ensured. Leading distributor Akshaye Rathi, who owns eight theatres in Maharashtra, said the decision has come as a relief at a time when the business was “crippled” due to the lockdown.
“We are very happy with this decision of the government, this is first step of normalcy for us. All these months we continued paying taxes and salaries to our staff despite zero income. The sector is crippled financially and we would need support of the government, production houses, and content creators to revive it,” Rathi told PTI. Rathi said he would open cinema halls around Diwali with a mixed bag of films, including filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s espionage thriller “Tenet” and the upcoming comedy satire “Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari”, starring Manoj Bajpayee, Diljeet Dosanjh and Fatima Sana Shaikh.
Manoj Desai, executive director of G7 Multiplex and Maratha Mandir, said while a final decision is yet to be taken on which films he would screen, he’s already considering several options. “The preparation are on in full swing, we are planning to start showing ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ in the matinee show at Maratha Mandir,” Desai said of the popular romance drama, which celebrated its silver jubilee on October 20.
The spectacular run of the Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol-starrer came to a sudden halt in March due to COVID-19. Desai told .
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