Key Points:
- Cinema Halls to reopen officially from October 15.
- Maharashtra keeps theatres closed till October 31.
- 50% seating capacity to be used by maintaining the social distancing norms.
- Sooryavanshi and ’83 are assumed to be the first huge releases after the lockdown of the theatres,
The Multiplex Association of India (MAI) welcomed the opening of the Cinema Halls from October 15 as per the guidelines issued by the center in the Unlock 5.0 release. Movie halls across the country were ordered shut by the government in March as the coronavirus pandemic arrived in India.
Taran Adarsh, a film critic and film trade analyst shared the Multiplex Association of India’s Official Statement on Twitter.
REOPENING OF CINEMAS… Multiplex Association of #India issues OFFICIAL STATEMENT… pic.twitter.com/J38h3Zojfb
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) September 30, 2020
“Cinemas/ theatres/ multiplexes will be permitted to open with upto 50% of their seating capacity, for which, SOP will be issued by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,”
said the official Press Release by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
After a break of 6 long months, the film industry can finally breathe easy due to the newly issued guidelines by the MHA. After using Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar and many such apps for viewing movies, viewers missed the actual theatrical feel. Now, even the fans can rejoice as a bunch of films are lined up for their release on the Big Screen. Only half the seating capacity of the theatre will be full with strict social distancing and compulsory mask rules.
Big budget films suffered a setback due to the lockdown induced amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and saw OTT platforms as their chance. Films like Gulabo Sitabo and Ghoomketu which were to be released in the theatres were launched on OTT platforms like Amazon Prime and Zee 5 and did not receive the response it expected. However, with theatres being allowed to run at 50% seating capacity, the films might finally be available to watch on the big screen.
Bollywood films that are expected to release theatrically are:
Sooryavanshi
Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Gulshan Grover, Jaaved Jaaferi, Abhimanyu Singh, Jackie Shroff, Ranveer Singh and Ajay Devgn is probably set to release this Christmas.
’83
Directed by Kabir Khan, ’83 stars Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev. Deepika Padukone as Kapil’s wife Romi Dev, Tajir Raj Bhasin as Sunil Gavaskar and Saqib Saleem as Mohinder Amarnath, among others.
Coolie No.1
Coolie No. 1 stars Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan in the lead. Director David Dhawan has also opted for the films OTT screening but as the theatres are now open and there is no official statement yet, it is difficult to know.
Makers of ’83 and Sooryavanshi made it clear that the movies were meant for theatrical experience and they will wait for cinema halls to reopen.
On the contrary, Maharashtra government has not permitted the Cinema Halls to open until October 31 as a step to curb the virus. Tamil Nadu government goes hand in hand with the Maharashtra government.
