THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the day of the hartal, the food counters opened by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy across all venues were a blessing to movie buffs. “We spoke to the Jail Department regarding the need for extra chapattis prior to the hartal and made the payment," said organising committee member, Ajith Kumar S R.
Every venue had a counter for the jail chapattis according to the capacity of the theatre. The volunteers of IFFK helped sell the food items. "We started the supply of chapattis by 11 am and we finished the same by 1 pm. We are prepared to distribute more chapattis in case of shortages in any of the venue," said Lalu T S, Assistant Prison Officer.
The Kudumbashree stall set up in Kairali Sree Nila theatre was prepared for the hartal day. "Our stalls prepared thrice the quantity of biryani we usually prepare," said Kudumbashree stall member Shifa Fathima.
Movie enthusiasts didn't face difficulty in getting food. "We eat from the hotel nearby our stay every day. But we were not able to find any restaurants which were open. However, we were not ready to make any compromise in watching films," said Lenin Prasad from Kasargod. The volunteers in the control room helped the movie buffs by providing food. "We were passing by and the volunteers from the control room gave us food," he added.
"We don't want any of the movie buffs to sit hungrily," said Swarnamma, a volunteer at the control room. The food stall at Tagore theatre witnessed extra crowd due to the hartal.
"Today, the number of people was more, but we were able to manage as we got the information regarding the hartal yesterday itself," said proprietor of Nallaruchi, Mani.