Multiplex And Single Screen Owners Urge The Government To Reopen Theatres From June 30 - Reports

With the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, the deadly virus compelled everyone to stay under house arrest, leading everything to come to a standstill. From gyms, shooting locations, schools-colleges to theatres and malls, the government has imposed a complete lockdown, due to which quite a few big budget films which were about to hit the cinemas in March and April were postponed indefinitely. However, the film producers requested the state government to allow the production work. Likewise, now the Multiplex Association of India has also asked the central government to reopen the theatres from June 30.

Talking about the same, Abhimanyu Bansal, who runs Entertainment Paradise, a multiplex chain in Jaipur told Mid-Day, "We are hoping that theatres will reopen between June 15 and June 30, once the government approves the guidelines submitted by the industry." Along with the request, the theatres have proposed deep-cleaning of auditorium seats on a daily basis and temperature checks of audience.

On the other hand, “Cinema staff will have to mandatorily wear masks and gloves and download Aarogya Setu app on their phones,” reported in the same portal. In fact, the cinemas will also have a different seating arrangement, so that they also follow the social distancing norm. "At the onset, we might be allowed only 50 per cent occupancy," adds Bansal. Speaking of Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif's Sooryavanshi that has been waiting in the pipeline for 2 months now, "Sooryavanshi will be one of the first few films to release, but the producers may delay its release by a few weeks. They may initially want to gauge [the footfalls]. Big movies like Sooryavanshi and Radhe will lure the audiences back to the theatres," he says.

Meanwhile, big-budget films like Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone’s ’83, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s Brahmastra and many more are also in the loop. On the other hand, Ayushmann Khurrana and Amitabh Bachchan’s Gulabo Sitabo and Vidya Balan’s Shakuntala Devi are being released on Amazon Prime.