Not bright days yet for Vizag theatres

Visakhapatnam : As cinema halls to resume operation from July 8, not many theatre owners look forward to the move. There are plenty of reasons for it as the entertainment industry has been badly hit by the first and second waves of Covid-19.

Amid rise in the operational costs, theatre owners say that they don't see brighter days in near future. "Even if the permission is given to resume operation of the theatres, we are not willing to do so for the next one month at least.

One of the major reasons is that there is no good movie or a big-starrer film that draws the audience to the cinema hall. Even if people volunteer to take a break, the 50 percent seating capacity is not going to help us in any manner," says T Satish Kumar, owner of Sukanya Theatre.

On one side, the theatre operators need to deal with a hike in maintenance cost and there is no scope for an increase in the ticket price for the new movies on the other. This coupled with 50 percent seating capacity in cinema halls to ensure safety norms, the theatre operators opine that it will not work out for them in the present scenario.

Sharing his woes, theatre manager A Somesh says, "Though the government eases norms, not many find it comfortable to step out of their homes, that too for watching a film in the theatre.

Even if they like to watch, there are no big-starrer films being screened at the moment. Given the situation, it takes a lot of time to resume the condition witnessed during pre-Covid times."

For over one-and-a-half years now, the entertainment industry has suffered a blow due to coronavirus.

Now, with the state government allowing the theatres to resume operations, the theatre operators say that it is going to be a long time before they heave a sigh of relief. Except a few theatres in the city, not many intend to open the gates until the situation improves.