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Lockdown Effect: Single screen theatres to fold by year end?
Updated On: 22 June, 2020 07:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu, Uma Ramasubramanian
Four months into the lockdown, and with cinemas unlikely to open before October, owners and trade pundits fear single screens may fold by year-end
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Cinema owners are counting on Sooryavanshi and 83 to lure audiences
Cinemas across Europe and the US may be opening their doors again, but a big-screen date with their favourite star remains elusive for the Indian audience. Even as the government is easing the restrictions in phases, reopening of theatres is likely to be among the last steps in the 'Unlock India' plan. The theatre business, currently in its fourth month of shutdown, has suffered a blow, with the single screens being the worst hit. Three landmark movie halls — Shanthala and Padma in Mysuru, and Maharani in Chennai — have bitten the dust in the past three months.'
With trade circles suggesting that cinemas will not re-open before October, trade analyst Akshaye Rathi worries that "about 250 to 300 single screens may be wiped out". He rues, "There's no support from any quarter, be it from the film industry or the government. By October, the number of theatres downing its shutters may touch 1000-plus." Rathi adds that problems will continue to plague the humble single screens even after they resume operations. "The initial expenditure will be way higher than the revenue coming in," says Rathi, adding that they will witness high footfalls only when big-ticket offerings hit the marquee.
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