NT NETWORK
Panaji
The theatres in Goa will not reopen on October 15 even though the central government has decided to start countrywide screening of films in cinema houses under the Unlock 5.0 guidelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.
President of the All Goa Theatre Owners’ Association Pravin Zantye on Wednesday said there are nearly 40 theatres in Goa, including 13 as a part of the association, 14 functioning as a part of the multiplexes and ten others.
“The new films, which are released world over every week, also get a release in Goan theatres,” Zantye informed, pointing out that since theatres in major states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi, which form major territories for the movie release, are not opening till the end of November 2020, therefore, no new movies would be released in the country till that time.
“Under this scenario, the theatre owners in Goa are not too keen to reopen their cinema houses,” he said, observing that since the Unlock 5.0 guidelines permit the theatres to operate with only up to 50 per cent of their seating capacity, the revenue of the cinema houses would also drop by at least 50 per cent, which is another reason for the unwillingness of the theatre owners here to screen the films.
“So as of now, you can say that the
