It has been almost four months since the lockdown was imposed by the Government to curb the spread of Coronavirus, thus putting up the shutters on places of mass gatherings like schools, temples, theatres, and more. The Unlock Phase I, however, has allowed a few shops to reopen, but it still left the padlock-ON on Cinema Halls, thus leaving them no choice but to release their films on OTT platforms.
As per recent reports, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, however, has recommended the Government to reopen theatres. It is said that the I&B Secretary, Amit Khare, had a meeting with the CII Media Committee, where he recommended that cinema halls should be allowed to reopen all over the country by August 1 or at least by August 31. It is to be mentioned that it was a suggestion by Mr. Khare, the final call, however, will be taken by his opposite in Home Ministry, Ajay Bhalla. According to reports, Amit Khare had also proposed a seating arrangement that theatre owners can follow as a safety guideline amidst the corona crisis.
As per media reports, in this lockdown entertainment industry has suffered a lot, with halted production work, theatres being shut, new movies being released on digital platforms, or the release of big-budget films getting postponed, this news came as a blessing for moviemakers. The list of mega-budget movies that got postponed for other dates includes Salman Khan’s ‘Radhe: The Most Wanted Bhai’, Ranveer Singh’s ’83’, Akshay Kumar’s ‘Sooryavanshi’, Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan’s ‘Coolie No 1’ among others. Whereas the films like ‘Laxmmi Bomb’, ‘Sadak 2’, ‘Bhuj’, ‘Lootcase’, ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl’, ‘An Unsuitable Boy’ and others are releasing on digital platforms.
