HYDERABAD: Following a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases across the State, the Telangana Cinema Theatre Owners Association (TCTOA) decided on Tuesday to voluntarily suspend operations from Wednesday. With the release of Love Story, Tuck Jagadish, Virata Parvam and Ishq postponed, the theatre owners are worried about the availability of content.” Cinema halls are getting less footfall due to a steep rise in Covid-19 cases. Except Vakeel Saab, which released on April 9, we don’t see any film being released in the near future.
Hence, we have decided to suspend the operations from April 21,” said a member of the association, on the condition of anonymity. To bring the second wave under control, the Telangana government, on Tuesday, imposed night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am till May 1. As a result, the second shows and late night shows across the State have been cancelled, and the government has also directed the cinema theatres and multiplexes to pull shutters at 8 pm.
“At a time when we were bouncing back to normalcy, the occupancy came down drastically after Ugadi. Everyone is worried about their lives and we are no exception. The second wave is turning out to be more dangerous than what we saw last year,” said the association member. “Single-screen theatres of producers Dil Raju and Suresh Babu Daggubati, however, will be open till this weekend, and will screen Vakeel Saab till April 25, and then, follow suit,” the source added.
Chiranjeevi’s CCC to organise free vax drive
Actor Chiranjeevi’s Corona Crisis Charity Mana Kosam (CCC) will organise a free Covid vaccination drive for the film workers and journalists of the Telugu cinema industry from Thursday. The actor, along with a host of big wigs of Telugu cinema, had started CCC last year and had offered financial support to the income-starved workers in the film industry during the lockdown.
This year, CCC has joined hands with Apollo 24x7 to provide free vaccination for a month to all the film workers and journalists above the age of 45, from Thursday. “I urge every member of these fraternities to enrol in their respective associations and get jabbed [sic],” said Chiranjeevi, in a video message on Twitter.