The country went into lockdown starting March 25 owing to the increasing cases of coronavirus. Starting June 1, the government has started unlocking in a phase wise manner. By now, domestic travel, offices, markets, shopping complexes have been permitted to operate except for in containment zones.
However, there has been no respite for theatres and the Multiplex Association of India has reacted to the same. The theatres were shut down a week before the nationwide lockdown was announced. In their press release, they expressed how demotivating and disheartening the decision is. “Cinemas and Multiplexes can become an example of how social distancing guidelines and crowd control can be best exercised in a safe and planned manner. As compared to the unorganised retail and shops that have been opened up, multiplexes and cinema are part of the organised sector, playing hosts to ‘revenue paying’ customers only and hence, in a better position to limit crowds unlike marketplaces and deploy all the mechanisms and guidelines for crowd control and social distancing,” the release read.
They also cited how major countries across the world have opened up cinemas to the public with the implementation of safety protocols. “MAI is of the firm belief that, there must be a start and the unlocking of cinemas in non-containment zones across India should be done post haste – there must be a beginning and an opportunity must be given to us, just like some of the other sectors,” they said.
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