Theatres reopen on Oct 1, hall owners react

Will the theatres reopen on October 1? As per a

crucial Tweet

by

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

, all

cinema halls

will start operations from the beginning of the next month. The official handle of Mamata Banerjee tweeted at 8.43 pm on September 26, “To return to normalcy, Jatras, Plays, OATs, Cinemas & all musical, dance, recital & magic shows shall be allowed to function with 50 participants or less from 1 Oct, subject to adherence to physical distancing norms, wearing of masks & compliance to precautionary protocols (sic).”



While the cinema hall owners of Kolkata welcomed the move, there is also a sense of apprehension. “We are yet to get the SOP and a lot is depending on that. If there is 50% permitted occupancy, we need to recalibrate the ticket prices. We all incurred huge losses due to the lockdown. We want the government by our side,” said Satadeep Saha, Ajanta Cinema.



Sourav Bose of Basusree said, “I read the tweet. It is great news for all of us. We will definitely try to reopen with the film that we shut down with. The pandemic was the last nail in the coffin. It will be a great help if the authorities waive off the corporation tax for a while.”