Welcoming the Centre’s decision to permit cinema halls to function with 50% capacity from October 15, associations and management of the theatres urged State governments to take a decision on the same.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), however, said in the Capital, “status-quo” would be maintained on cinema halls till October 31 or until further orders.
The Multiplex Association of India (MAI) said permissions on an urgent basis from the State governments to reopen cinemas would go a substantial distance in ensuring that the cinema exhibition sector is able to quickly recover from the economic impact.
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Most of the theaters in Delhi are run by large multiplex chains that have a presence across the county and are planning for a pan India opening. However, a few remaining single-screen theaters like Delite Cinema said they were ready to open but they do not know about the “status-quo”.
“We have reburshied our halls during the lockdown. We have upgraded our air conditioning unit and installed a UV chamber for sanitising the air that is being circulated,” said the manager of Delite. Managing Director, Carnival Cinemas, P.V. Sunil said this was the right time to open halls with Diwali around the corner but a couple of State governments are yet to give the nod.
“As of now, our software is being modified in accordance with 50% seating so that the audience have a seamless experience while booking tickets online. Two weeks is sufficient time for our preparations,” Mr. Sunil said.
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Alok Tandon, CEO, INOX Leisure, said preparations on the hygiene and disinfection front will set new benchmarks for any public premises, whether inside the auditorium or in our lobbies and F&B counters. “We are positively hopeful that the State governments will now give us the green signal,” Mr. Tandon said.