Several exhibitors in Bombay and Pune were unhappy at the state government’s instruction to single-screen cinemas and multiplexes to screen Uri – The Surgical Strike free of cost in the morning show on 26th July which is the Kargil Vijay Diwas. The film celebrates the victory of the Indian Army against Pakistan in the surgical strike of 2016. The order was for screening the hit film free of cost for students and former defence personnel. The initiative was that of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fanavis.
Pertinent to note that it is illegal to let a patron enter a cinema without a ticket. The licence of a cinema can be forfeited if a patron is caught without a ticket. Manoj Desai, executive director of G7 multiplex and Maratha Mandir cinema in Bombay, wondered how the government could ask the cinemas to indulge in an illegal activity!
The Multiplex Association of India said, it would not object as it was the first time that the government had made such a request.