It is well known that the film industry is one of the worst affected sectors in India due to the COVID-19 virus. The lockdown which was imposed by the government on March 24th is still in effect although with certain restrictions relaxed. One of the rules of the lockdown is that movie theaters are to be closed until further notice. However, theaters were asked to shut down even before the lockdown was announced from March 24th.
This move has affected a many number of stakeholders in the film industry which includes producers, theater owners, distributors and the daily wage workers. Even now the government has said that theaters should continue to remain closed till the end of June. Recently a delegation of actors, producers and directors met with the Cinematography Minister Mr Talasani Srinivas Yadav to discuss the way forward to reopen the movie industry.
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Telangana government is likely to give the go ahead for theaters to reopen however the theaters should only be at 50 capacity to ensure social distancing. However, this move does not seem to have made producers happy as a fifty percent capacity means reduced returns which would mean producers would lose heavily.
One more reason that movie theaters might not open any time soon is because people are not yet ready to come and watch a movie in a theater because of the virus. The public prefers to stay safe and wait it out rather than risking a chance to contract the disease. A lot of producers have also been exploring the option of directly releasing the movie on OTT platforms.
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