Theatres Will Not Reopen From Tomorrow

As part of unlock 5, the Centre has allowed the cinema halls to reopen from October 15th across the country. But regarding the reopening of theatres in Telugu states, there is a lot of uncertainty. In AP, the theatres will not be operating from tomorrow and this is officially confirmed by the theatres management.

Andhra Film Exhibitors met on Wednesday morning in Vijayawada and speaking on the occasion, the exhibitors chief KS Prasad said, the AP government assured that it will scrap off the electricity bills for the lockdown period but so far nothing has been done and until our problems are addressed, there is no possibility of theatres reopening.

Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) secretary Ramesh said, in the last seven months, the electricity bill imposed on a single theatre is Rs 4 Lakh while to run a theatre in these circumstances would cost us Rs 10 Lakh. There are about 500 theatres in the state that haven’t paid their power bills so far. People with money and who own theatres, have paid their bills but there are many people who are unpaid.

“We are begging the government to consider our pleas and scrap off the bills. At least this would give us relief and we might reopen theatres at the earliest. We also urge the government to take a decision on occupancy,” said Ramesh.

Meanwhile we are yet to hear from Telangana theatres reopening.