The Maharashtra government may still not have granted permission to cinemas to reopen but even if it had, some single-screen cinemas in the state may actually not have restarted operations. Strange but true! These single-screen cinemas want the government to grant them reliefs they have demanded, without which they are in no mood to screen films. Their argument is that many states have already given cinemas such reliefs, so they are not asking for something outlandish.
The Cinema Owner & Exhibitors Association Of India (COEAI), which has cinemas of Maharashtra as its members, on 31st July, had written to Amit Deshmukh, minister for cultural affairs, Maharashtra, demanding reliefs for single-screen cinemas in the state, which have borne unbearable losses during the 17 months of the lockdown prompted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, neither have cinemas been permitted to reopen in the state nor have the reliefs and concessions sought by single-screen cinemas been granted by the state government.