CHENNAI: Members of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association on Tuesday decided to continue to operate the theatres, despite the state imposing night curfew and Sunday full curfew from this week.
As theatres will not function on April 25 when the first Sunday curfew comes into force, the members have decided to curtail the number of shows on other days to three from the present four due to the night curfew.
“We have decided to keep the theatres running despite the night curfew and Sunday curfew affecting our trade. If we have to discuss any of our issues now, it has to be done only with the officials. We will rather wait for a new elected government to take over and then approach it with our problems and work towards a lasting solution. Till that time, theatres will manage their shows with the films already released,” leading exhibitor and distributor Tirupur K Subramanian said.
With polling for the Tamil Nadu assembly election having already taken place on April 6, the polled votes will be counted on May 2.
The first victim of the fresh curbs is ‘MGR Magan’ featuring actors Sasikumar and Satyaraj. The film, which was scheduled to be released this Friday, has now been postponed due to proposed curfew. Actor Sivakarthikeyan’s ‘Doctor’, which was tentatively planned to have a May 13 theatrical release, is also likely to be postponed further, industry sources said.
“Due to the new set of restrictions, producers will not come forward to release films. Other than the opening weekend of a film’s release, where the collections peak on the first three days, normally the maximum collections for a running film comes on Sundays. This will definitely affect the industry,” K Meenakshi Sundaram, vice president, Mayajaal Multiplex, said.