Second Covid wave deals cinemas a telling blow

Cinemas across the state had resumed screenings barely three months ago with the popular second show commencing hardly a month ago.
With the surge in Covid-19 cases, the number of people visiting cinema halls in the state has declined considerably. A scene from one of the theatres in Kochi | A Sanesh
With the surge in Covid-19 cases, the number of people visiting cinema halls in the state has declined considerably. A scene from one of the theatres in Kochi | A Sanesh

KOCHI: The second wave of Covid-19 infections sweeping the state has dealt a body blow to the Malayalam film industry, which was slowly on the road to recovery after suffering heavy loss to the tune of Rs 600 crore inflicted by the pandemic outbreak last year. Though several small-budget and big-budget movies were lined up for release in April- May, their producers have no option other than to delay the theatre release.

Cinemas across the state had resumed screenings barely three months ago with the popular second show commencing hardly a month ago. And now with the Covid situation threatening to get out of hand, it is up to the cinemas to take a call on whether indeed they should keep the show up and running. The industry’s hopes now rest on the situation easing by May 13 in time for Eid ul-Fitr.

On Tuesday, a meeting of office-bearers of Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEOUK), decided not to call for a temporary shutdown of cinema halls. Though the state has imposed a two-week curfew and has asked theatres to close down operations by 7.30 pm, the association has left it to the theatre owners to decided whether to close down the facilities or not.

“Though there is no instruction from the exhibitors’ organisation, many cinema halls will naturally be forced to close down in the coming days. First of all, the number of people visiting theatres is very less nowadays. Most of the theatres are only conducting two shows per day now, ie, at 12 noon and 3 pm, that too at 50 per cent of their actual capacity.

Many theatres are not even getting 10 or 15 admissions for these shows,” said Liberty Basheer, owner of Liberty Theatres, Thalassery. He said that, during Ramzan season, most of the producers will not release big movies. “Hence, they cannot expect new movies in the coming weeks. So, naturally, they will be forced to shut down the facilities till new releases arrive and people will be ready to come to cinemas again,” he said.

Early release on OTT platform
Meanwhile, some of the producers, who had already released their movies in theatres early this month have approached the Kerala Film Chamber (KFC) to allow them to sell the films to OTT platforms. 
The chamber had earlier set a deadline of 42 days after the film’s theatre release to screen the same on OTT platforms. The makers of the movie ‘Kho Kho’, which was released on April 15, have already requested the chamber to give them relaxations.

“We  released the movie last week and it got an overwhelming reaction from the audience on day one. However, the second wave of Covid-19 changed the situation. Though we are grateful to the theatre owners who screened the movie, now with more restrictions being put in place, we should think of extending the reach of the movie to a wider audience through OTT and television channels,” director of the movie, Rahul Riji Nair, posted on his Facebook.

When contacted, KFC president G Sureshkumar said the chamber will consider the request from the producers to have an early OTT release, considering the present situation. “The meeting of the chamber, which will be held on April 28 will take a final decision. We cannot let the producers of the already released movies suffer more losses by denying OTT streaming,” he said.

Meanwhile, though officially not announced, the release of much-awaited movies like Marakkar-Arabikkadalinte Simham, Malik, Thuramugham, Kuruthi and Keshu Ee Veedinte Nadhan will be delayed further if the Covid-19 situation in Kerala worsens in the coming weeks.

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