Udhhav Thackeray (File)Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said it was painful to see Bollywood being defamed by certain people and added attempts to malign the industry or to move it out of Mumbai would not be tolerated.
Thackeray, who was speaking with the multiplex and cinema hall owners at a meeting on the reopening of theatres in the state, said Mumbai is not only the economic but also the cultural capital of Maharashtra.
“The cinema is a big entertainment industry. It provides employment opportunities to many, while the movies make our actors popular,” the Chief Minister added.
“But over the last few days, Bollywood has been discredited by certain sections of the society. It is extremely painful. The attempts to end
Bollywood or to move the film industry elsewhere will never be tolerated,” he said.
This is for the first time that Thackeray has spoken on the issue of Bollywood being defamed by certain people following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14.
Earlier, Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders had spoken on the alleged conspiracy theories to defame Bollywood and attempt to shift it out of Mumbai after the Uttar Pradesh government announced the setting up of a film city in Noida.
Thackeray further said the Cultural Affairs department has prepared draft standing operating procedures (SOPs) for reopening of cinema halls.
“The cinema halls will be reopened after the SOP is finalised,” he said. Sources said that the cinema hall owners requested the government to allow the reopening of theatres as early as possible. The SOPs are likely to be issued in a week, said an official.
On September 30, the Ministry of Home Affairs gave its go-ahead to resuming cinema and theatre activities under Unlock 5.0 but had left it to individual states to take a final call.
The chief minister said, “The cleaning and sanitisation of cinema halls from time to time and having only 50 per cent spectators of the total seating capacity need to be observed.”
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