From 2014 to 2020: Five times when theaters were closed in Tamil Nadu

Tamil movies have always entertained audience over the years, and cinema lovers have enjoyed watching them in air-conditioned theatres while munching on popcorn and cold drinks. While the content as well as the stars in the film matter a lot, even the cinema hall plays a major role in drawing crowds to watch the films. And so, when theatres are shut, films suffer great losses. One, because that closes the option of screening authentic versions of the film, giving rise to piracy and two, because a lot of people end up not watching the film altogether. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the Tamil Nadu state government has ordered theaters to be shut till March 31 to contain the virus. And with this on-going phase, here’s a look at five times from 2014 to 2020 when theaters were closed in Tamil Nadu for various reasons.

In 2014, the Indian general elections were held to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha, electing members of parliament. Due to the elections being conducted in Tamil Nadu on April 24, all movie theatres were closed till 6 pm on that day. The Election Commission had ordered the Theatre Owners’ Association to close the theaters on Election Day and the same was announced by the association president, Mr. Abirami Ramanthan. Also, this was the first time that movie theatres were closed owing to elections.

Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, who was fondly known as the "Missile Man", passed away at the age of 83 on July 27, 2015. Multiplexes and movie theaters across the state were closed on Thursday, July 30 as the last journey of Abdul Kalam took place in his hometown Rameswaram. The Tamil Nadu government announced a holiday on the day and theaters were shut in the state to pay respect to our former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

In October 2017, the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council (TFPC) decided to shut down theaters to protest against the 10 percent local body Entertainment Tax on top of the 28 percent tax on goods and services. TFPC felt that an additional 10 percent Entertainment Tax levied by the state government was an additional burden. A strike which lasted for a week due to the battle between the film industry bodies and the government over Entertainment Tax ended after the government cut the tax to 8 percent from 10 percent.

In April 2018, the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) again decided to go on an indefinite strike due to the high cost of digital projectors set by digital service providers. This was the longest ever strike in the Tamil film industry, and some of the theaters in the state were closed due to the strike which lasted for almost a month. Then, the issues between the TFPC and digital service providers were solved, and the strike ended.

Now in 2020, the government has ordered theaters and malls to shut down due to the spreading Coronavirus. Also, shooting of films, television serials and advertisements have been called off. More than ten movie releases were postponed due to the theaters being shut and theater owners have been facing losses. However at the same time, they are happy with the step taken by the government to prevent everyone from contracting the COVID-19 virus.