Chennai

Master, fanboys, and the virus: A love triangle

Navein Darshan , CP Balasubramanyam

CHENNAI: Festivals are incomplete in Tamil Nadu without films. Big-ticket releases of Kollywood superstars are usually timed to coincide with Deepavali or Pongal. This year, however, with the Covid playing the supervillain in the real world, filmmakers struggled to get their movies out to the audience. 
Actor Vijay’s Master, which released on Wednesday, was billed as the ‘Messiah Film’ that would bring the audience back to theatres, despite concerns of a fresh spike in Covid cases.

Though the State government had to go back on its decision to allow 100 per cent seating in theatres, the excitement of the audience remained intact. All eyes were on January 13. Yours truly managed to get a seat for the prized FDFS show (at 4 am) through some contacts. Though sceptical about the Covid safety measures being followed, the sights at Kamala Theatre early in the morning were encouraging. It was a pleasant surprise to see hundreds of people wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, well as much as was possible. It was interesting to note that the usual celebrations in the form of band music, crackers and paal abishegams were all done away with, but replaced instead with face masks that bore the Master print.              

Dhilip, an IT professional from Ramapuram, said that only Vijay could have made him step into a theatre for the first time this pandemic. “This is my first time to a theatre in a year. I was so excited to watch the show that I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night,” said the self-confessed Vijay ‘fanatic’, who was pleased that the theatre management did its best to enforce rules and ensure the safety of their patrons. “There is space between seats and hand sanitisers are in place,” he noted.

The absence of the mandatory screaming fans upon entering the hall made me wonder whether the pandemic had drained our audience’s energy. A wild shout from a patron left the theatre in splits: “Unakaaga corona ward la irundhu vandhu iruken thalaivaa!” The social distancing, which was followed for a while, did go for a toss when the much-hyped Vaathi Coming song began playing. Fans rushed in front of the screen and transformed the elevated space into a dance floor with their moves. I observed with mixed emotions, but have to admit it was a relief that they didn’t throw their masks in the air.  However, this was before the crack of dawn. As the day wore on, crowds started swelling. 

11 theatres face the music for violating protocols
Till Tuesday night, Chennai police registered cases against 11 theatres in 10 police station limits across the city for violating Covid norms, police sources confirmed. Many took to social media and rued that the meagre fine amount was hardly a barrier for theatres that would still fill up its halls and later pay the fine for every show. The theatres were booked under Section 188 (disobedience to an order of a public servant) and Section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of IPC.
Also in some theatres, before the shows began, fans performed milk ‘abhishekams’ to cut-outs of the actor, burst crackers, danced, and shouted on top of their voices.

Some theatres even invited percussionists to perform to set the mood for the occasion. A police officer said the information about other theatres booked would be available only the next day. Social media platforms were buzzing with activity with users uploading pictures of theatre halls flouting the capacity norm by tagging government officials.

Police claimed that they were doing surprise checks. People wearing masks were only subjected to the thermal screening process and allowed inside halls, but S Navaneetha Krishnan, who watched the first show, said, “The masks were either removed or were hanging off peoples’ faces as soon as the movie started. They excitedly chatted with friends and whistled until the very end of the movie.” “We have so far checked several theatres. In most cases, there are no violations but the reports are still coming in from revenue officials in all zones and we will file FIRs in case there are any violations,” said a revenue department official.  

Covid-19 norms fly in the air with confetti
The situation was much worse in districts and smaller cities. In Tiruchy, several theatres violated the 50 per cent occupancy rule. Theaters such as LA Maris, LA Sona Mina, Ramba theatre, Venkatesa cinemas saw serpentine queues and massive celebrations from 4 am.  “I saw the 8 am show and it was fully occupied. I thought it would be 50 per cent and booked the tickets. Most people weren’t wearing masks. The movie was great though,” said a fan who watched the movie.   Tamil Nadu Film Exhibitors Association president ‘Sakthi’ M Subramaniam said there was a “huge response” for the movie. In western Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore, Tirupur, and Erode districts, 89 screens released the movie, he added. “I believe the movie revived the people’s interest in visiting theatres,” he added. 

(With inputs from Tiruchy, Tirupur, and Salem)

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