Will movie halls be allowed to reopen from August?

While several activities have been allowed to operate, albeit with strict adherence to safety guidelines, as India unlocks, gyms, cinema halls, swimming pools have not been allowed to reopen ever since Lockdown 1.0 was clamped down across the country in March 2020. Now, there is a ray of home for theatre and multiplex owners with the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting (MIB) recommending the reopening of cinema halls.

According to various media reports, Amit Khare, Secretary, MIB, stated this at a meeting with the CII Media Committee held yesterday (July 24, 2020). He added that the recommendation had been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and that Ajay Bhalla, Secretary, MHA, would take a final decision on this.

Cinema halls and multiplex owners have been suffering steep losses in the COVID-19 times, even as several big ticket movies have missed their release dates. In the mean time, several filmmakers have opted to release their finished films on OTT platforms and Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and ZEE5 have recently announced their line-up of new film premiers on digital. There have also been quite a few premiers already – most notably being ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, ‘Dil Bechara’, ‘Bhonsle’, ‘Ghoomketu’, among others.

Multiplex owners have severely criticised the digital premiers. MIB’s recommendation has given some hope to them. However, the Government’s strict safety regulations could be a bone of contention for the cinema hall and multiplex owners. It is learnt that as per the guidelines, a distance of two yards needs to be maintained, with alternate rows kept vacant. Movie hall owners feel this will restrict the seating capacity to just 25-odd per cent, which was nt economically viable.