There couldn’t be a more pronounced indicator of the terrible times the exhibition sector is going through than this: Raj Mandir cinema of Jaipur will be screening a repeat-run film for the first time in its almost 45-year history. The film in question will be War, and it will be screened in daily two shows at the cinema from 19th February. Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, which is currently running at the cinema, will be continued in two shows.
As is common knowledge, Rajasthan was the last state to permit cinemas to reopen after the pandemic lockdown. In fact, cinemas have started operations only this month in the desert state. Raj Mandir screened Master (dubbed) for a few days after reopening. Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari is the other new film which opened at the cinema. It may be mentioned here that in Jaipur, Raj Mandir and Inox are the only cinemas which have so far started operations after the lockdown.
With not many films being announced for release as footfalls in cinemas all over India are very low, every cinema is literally struggling to remain afloat in these trying times. For Raj Mandir, which is considered to be the pride of Asia ever since it opened on 30th June, 1976, the predicament is not just of survival — as in the case of every cinema in the country — but also of having to play a repeat-run film. For the uninitiated, Raj Mandir is such a prestigious cinema of Jaipur that distributors fall over one another to have their film release at the cinema. For such a sought-after cinema, there has never been an occasion in the 2,200-plus weeks since its inception to run a film in repeat-run because there has never been a shortage of playing programmes in its history. The cinema is considered to be the third-best cinema in the world!
So, Raj Mandir will break its own record this Friday by playing a repeat-run film. Sad but true!