Coimbatore: Cinema halls in the district bounced back to business with the release of Vijay-starrer Master on Wednesday.
For the first time in the last two months, theatres ran houseful shows, said M Subramaniam, president of Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association. “Tickets for the next two days are sold out. The response shows that the business will pick up gradually,” he told TOI.
The positive response from audience shows that they are willing to visit theatres to watch good movies, said K Rajamannar, president of the Coimbatore, Tirupur, Nilgiris and Erode Distributors Association. “This would encourage producers to release their movies on big screens. Most of the theatres will have five shows per day till Sunday and then it will be reduced to four shows,” he said. “The standard operating procedure was followed. People wore face masks and maintained social distancing. Theatres were fumigated after every show. Only packed food was served.”
Theatres that opened in November, nine months after the state government closed them to control the spread of Covid-19, were screening old movies. Attendance was thin, around 15%, till Tuesday.
Earlier this month, theatre owners and actors urged the state government to allow them function with full seat occupancy. Though the government agreed and issued an order, it was withdrawn after the central government cited Covid-19 safety violations.
While some operators cancelled shows due to the low footfall, some started providing private screening offers.
“As there is a huge demand for the tickets, it is difficult to arrange private screening. We would resume private screening after a few weeks,” said Subramaniam.
Film buffs were happy to get back to theatres. “With the number of Covid-19 cases coming down and the government relaxing lockdown norms, we did not want to miss out the opportunity of watching a good movie on a big screen with friends,” said M Krishna.