VIJAYAWADA: Single-screen theatres in the State may reopen from December 11 if the government allows them to operate with 75 per cent occupancy. The demand comes in the wake of cinema halls in the neighbouring Telangana State have agreed to operate with 50 per cent occupancy from Tuesday. Even though multiplexes in the State began screening movies from November 1, the single-screen theatres continued to remain shut.
“We have requested the State government to clear power bills worth `60 lakh to `1 crore as the cinema halls have remained shut for the last eight months. So far, there has been no concrete assurance from the government regarding clearance of power bills and waiving off taxes, which left the theatre managements and distributors in a confusion,” KVV Prasad, a film distributor told TNIE.
On the reopening of theatres in Telangana, Prasad said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had made several promises to the theatre and multiplex managements ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. “We are expecting the AP government to take a call by the end of this month. If our demands are met, the single-screen theatres in AP will reopen from December 11,” Prasad said.
“We cannot expect policies in Andhra Pradesh similar to that of in Telangana. However, the AP government should allow the cinema halls to open with 75 per cent occupancy,” said G Ram Babu, owner of a single-screen theatre in Vijayawada.
“Anything less than that will incur losses to the theatre managements and distributors as the big ticket movies are not going to be released anytime soon. We also have to incur additional expenditure to ensure Covid-19 protocols are strictly followed,” Ram Babu observed.
The theatres were shut in March, following a lockdown imposed to control the spread of Covid-19. As part of Unlock 5.0 guidelines, the Centre had permitted resumption of several activities, including reopening of cinema halls, from October 15.