The order for the reopening of cinemas was finally issued a few minutes back by Mantralaya. Cinemas in the state, as in other states of the country, have been permitted to reopen with 50% occupancy. Multiplexes and single-screen cinemas are free to restart operations from tomorrow (5th November) itself.
The clause of the order which permits reopening of a host of activities, which relates to cinemas mentions:
“Cinema halls/theatres/multiplexes/drama theatres will be allowed to open with 50% of their seating capacity in areas outside the Containment Zones only, with effect from 5th November, 2020. No eatables will be allowed inside the Cinema halls/theatres/multiplexes/drama theatres. The SOP for the same will be issued by the Cultural Affairs Department and local authorities. The Cultural Affairs Department will take into consideration the SOP issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.”
The trade greeted the news of the cinema reopening in Maharashtra with glee and a sense of relief. Not just in Maharashtra, exhibitors from across the nation rejoiced on hearing the news of the reopening of cinemas after the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Producers and distributors likewise felt ecstatic that finally, cinemas in Bombay, the nerve centre of Bollywood, would be reopening. Although cinemas in many states had reopened from and after 15th October in keeping with the Centre’s permission, the state of Maharashtra granted the permission only today due to coronavirus cases not reducing substantially in Maharashtra. Your editor had broken the news yesterday (3rd November) by tweeting that the order for cinema reopening in Maharashtra would come in less than 24 hours. The tweet had taken the cinema trade by storm as hopes had soared sky-high. However, when the order was not released yesterday, a pall of gloom engulfed the industry. But the order was finally released this evening, bringing a lot of cheer in the trade. Again today, it was your editor who broke the news of the order for reopening of cinemas in Maharashtra, on Twitter..
The tweet had taken the cinema trade by storm as hopes had soared sky-high.
Kamal Gianchandani, CEO of PVR Pictures, said, “This is a very positive development. We would like to express our gratefulness to the government of Maharashtra.” Expressing gratitude to the government of Maharashtra, Cinema Owners & Exhibitors Association of India (COEAI) president Nitin Datar remarked, “I wish, this order had come a couple of weeks earlier. Had that happened, we would have been able to celebrate Diwali with more fervour. But never mind, the good thing is that the order for reopening has come before Diwali.” Prem Lakhani, programmer of Rajhans group of cinemas (which has presence in the state of Gujarat) said, “Now I can confidently say that the film trade will at least be able to celebrate Diwali. Without Maharashtra, the reopening of cinemas in other states seemed incomplete because Maharashtra is the main state for film business.” It may be mentioned here that although cinemas in the state of Gujarat were permitted to reopen from 15th October, Rajhans had refrained from reopening its properties because of lack of new releases. With cinemas in Maharashtra all set to restart, producers will now feel inclined to release their new films, which is why Prem Lakhani is excited about reopening the Rajhans cinemas from Friday, 6th November. Producer Shariq Patel (Zee Studios) sounded ecstatic at the prospect of “things now moving in the true sense of the term”. He elaborated, “Unfortunately, without cinemas in Maharashtra reopening, there was very little movement because not only is Maharashtra the birth place of Hindi films but also a major revenue contributor for Hindi films. Since we are an inward-looking lot, we just couldn’t move ahead without cinemas of Maharashtra restarting operations. I am so thankful to the government of Maharashtra and of all the various states and, of course, the central government for supporting the film industry.” Zee Studios’ Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari could be the first major new release after the lockdown. Plans are afoot to release the film on 13th November but before that, modalities have to be worked out between Zee and the national multiplex chains as regards revenue-sharing ratio, time gap between theatrical and digital release, and payment of VPF. If, for any reason, Zee is unable to keep its date with the cinemas on 13th November, it will bring Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari on 20th November. Of course, the effort is to release it in the Diwali week itself.
“I wish, this order had come a couple of weeks earlier. Had that happened, we would have been able to celebrate Diwali with more fervour.”