The Tamil Nadu government rolled back its decision to permit cinemas to operate at 100% capacity. Two days after the state government announced its decision (on January 4) to allow cinemas to run to capacity houses, the ministry of home affairs asked it to revert to 50% as that was the central government’s directive. Today (January 8), that is, two days after the MHA’s directive, the Madras high court ordered 50% occupancy limit till January 11.
Cinemas in the state will now have to refund monies to clients who had booked tickets in advance for Master (Tamil) and other Pongal releases. It is believed that top stars like Vijay had requested the Tamil Nadu chief minister to permit cinemas to operate at full capacities from Pongal.