BENGALURU: Movie theatre owners are finally heaving a sigh of relief as the Union Home Ministry has lifted the cap on 50 per cent occupancy at theatres. The decision, which also relaxes the cap on other public gatherings like swimming pools, exhibition halls, religious places, etc, has come into effect as the number of Covid-19 cases has come down.
Calling it a welcome move, Anand, a ticket booking clerk at Srinivasa Theatre in SG Palya, Koramangala, says that theatres did well even with 50 per cent occupancy owing to festivals and holidays. “For Pongal, we were playing Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi-starrer Master, and other films. The shows were always houseful,” says Anand emphasising that even if the demand was high, they continued following BBMP’s safety guidelines. With some big Kannada releases lined up, Anand is expecting crowds to throng theatres just like old times. “Dhruva Sarja’s Pogaru is releasing on Feb.19. Since all the seats will be filled, you will see a huge crowd in front of the ticket counter,” says a confident Anand.
However, multiplexes and single-screen theatres are still waiting for a revised SoP from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. “Since full occupancy is effective from Feb. 1, we are hoping to get the details by Jan. 31,” says Mohit Bhargava, regional director of INOX Leisure, who adds that post the lockdown, eight out of their nine outlets were functional. He also mentions that they are expecting the crowd to pick up on weekends.
Though the news sounds exciting, the Sandalwood fraternity is practical, not wanting to have very high expectations. Director-turned-producer Guru Deshpande says it is surely good news but feels that viewers also need to be convinced about heading to theatres. “Movies with big stars will get a mass audience, but those with newcomers and middle-order actors will be affected. With vaccinations still being in the initial stages of roll-out, I am not sure how much of a crowd we are going to get,” says Deshpande.
