The Telangana high court on January 27 directed the state and cinemas to not permit children below 16 years of age to be at the theatres before 11 a.m. and after 11 p.m. This would mean that children will not be allowed to watch films in cinemas in the early morning and late night shows.
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy passed this order while resuming hearing on four petitions, two each against Telugu films Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 and Game Changer. The petitions questioned the odd-hour shows, benefit shows and increase in admission rates. The order made it clear that it would be applicable to all films henceforth.
Since the state has already complied with the previous court order and decided not to permit benefit shows and odd-hour shows (between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m.) in the aftermath of the stampede at Sandhya cinema in December last year during the premiere of Pushpa: the Rule Part 2, the judge, in the latest hearing, focused on the issue of minors watching films during late hours.
