Cinemas in Maharashtra are likely to reopen this Friday (6th November). A very confidential and reliable source has revealed that the file for the reopening of cinemas in the state has been cleared in Mantralaya. The order of reopening will be signed shortly, in all probability today (3rd). If the order does come today, cinemas might be permitted to restart operations from 6th itself. In the hope of cinemas being permitted to reopen, some multiplex properties in Bombay have already put up notices announcing that they will soon be ready to welcome patrons.
No sooner did your editor break the news on Twitter this morning than an air of excitement and hope ran through the industry. Although cinemas in many states reopened on 15th October, no new films have been released since then because cinemas in other states, more particularly in Maharashtra, were yet to reopen. Bombay being the nerve centre of Bollywood, the trade was waiting for cinemas in the state of Maharashtra (of which Bombay is a part) to restart because, as a trade person put it, “without that, it just doesn’t feel like the exhibition trade has restarted”.
The reopening of cinemas in Maharashtra augurs well for the trade because now, producers will think of releasing their new films. Till new playing programmes were not provided to the public, footfalls were bound to be very low because repeat-run films don’t have much of a market even in normal times, what to talk of an extraordinary situation like the current one when people are fearing for their health, safety and security, and the spending power available in their hands is at an all-time low because of the lockdown and its disastrous after-effects like loss of jobs and shutdown of businesses aplenty. One still doesn’t know how the attendance in cinemas will pan out in the weeks to come but the trade is happy that a beginning in the true sense of the term will hopefully be made with the reopening of cinemas in Maharashtra.