Though the State government has permitted the reopening of cinemas from Thursday in view of the decline in COVID-19 cases, there is no response from exhibitors in the city.
The reasons are not hard to find. Cap on filling up of the seats, the new G.O. reducing the ticket rates and the pandemic threat are all making the theatre proprietors think twice before going ahead with the screening of films.
According to State government norms, cinemas can function at 50% occupancy and will have to observe COVID-19 protocols.
Cinema exhibitors, distributors and producers are, however, divided on whether by resuming the operations, they would get good patronage. While a handful of owners are planning to screen movies old movies in a couple of days, a majority of them have adopted the wait and watch approach.
“Curfew relaxations are not uniform across the State with relaxations only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in East and West Godavari districts. The ticket rates as per the new G.O., issued in April 2021, are very low and producers, who had invested huge budgets based on old rates, will not get the desired returns. Many of the exhibitors are not willing to screen the shows immediately,” said Subbaiah, a city-based distributor of Annapurna Studios.
“The cinemas have remained closed for the past several months. But the owners have to bear the power charges, maintenance charges and other overhead costs. Industry veterans like Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna are expected to meet Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and appeal to him for waiver of electricity charges for the duration for which the theatres remained closed,” said Mr. Subbaiah.
“The audiences want entertainment and they are ready to flock to theatres, but producers and exhibitors are facing problems due to the pandemic. The government should allow doubling of the ticket rates at least till the restriction on filling only 50% of the seats is removed,” said B. Santosh, writer and director of ‘Nuvvante Pichhe’, which was released on OTT platforms recently. He was in the city on Wednesday for the shooting of his second Telugu film ‘PJ’.
“Barring a couple of theatres in the city, most of the others are yet to open up. Old films may not attract the youth. We hope that the situation will improve by the end of the third week of July,” said Prasad Reddy, manager of Sarat Theatre.
“We are planning to screen three shows a day from July 10 (Saturday). We hope that at least 50% seats will be filled in the initial few weeks and by July-end, we expect that new films will be released. Filmgoers in the city are a disciplined lot and they are expected to abide by the guidelines such as wearing masks and observing physical distancing,” said Jagadish Kumar, proprietor of Jagadamba theatre.
