Cinema operators were ready to roll out the red carpet for patrons, hoping the government would allow operations to resume in the much vaunted Unlock 3.0. Alas, that hasn’t been the case. All manner of auditoriums are barred from operating till at least August 31.
This has given operators the time to review and strengthen their hygiene and safety protocols. For most cinemas, no matter their initials, this has meant revamping everything from the way patrons will enter, to the way they sit, to the way they snack, to the way they exit. Only the way we watch (or not watch and disturb others), remain the same. Digital is no longer the future, it’s the present, and it is going to be ubiquitous as it will be contactless.
“INOX has developed a very stringent and detailed set of SOPs to be implemented across all our cinemas. These SOPs are prepared at par with global standards and will ensure that we offer a safe and a hygienic environment, while ensuring social distancing norms, once we are given a go-ahead,” says Rajeev Patni, COO – INOX Leisure Ltd., elaborating, “We have visualised the entire cinema journey of the guest and identified the critical touch points.
It is on these that we have subsequently prepared the SOPs, so that there are no gaps in offering a safe and reliable cinema viewing experience.” Speaking about ensuring a sense of safety, Patni says, “We will stagger the guest entry while ensuring social distancing. Families and groups who are arriving together will be allowed to sit together and one seat will be left vacant on their either sides.
We have created algorithms in our booking software to ensure that this will be followed and no human intervention will be required.” This means, if a family of four is allotted seat numbers B3 to B6, then B2 and B7 will automatically get blocked by the system’s algorithm and be left vacant.
“We have reduced the seating capacity to maintain social distancing,” says Tinku Singh, Group President and Chief Strategy Officer, SRS Cinemas, listing other the precautions being readied such as those without a without a mask and Aarogya Setu app will be prohibited. Scheduled sanitisation through disinfectant sprays at regular intervals. Between each show the entire hall will be disinfected. No two shows will have an interval at the same time.
“We would like to assure the public that their safety is our prime concern and we are ready to welcome them as soon as we are allowed to,” concludes Singh.