Cinema halls in Odisha re-open with 50 pc capacity today

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], August 1 (ANI): Nearly after two months, cinema halls in Odisha re-opened with 50 per cent capacity from Sunday.

Speaking to ANI, Binodh, an Assistant Manager at Keshri Cinema hall said that they would open the hall on August 5 owing to the non-availability of movies.

“Odisha government has announced to re-open cinema halls from August 1, but we will open the hall from August 5, as there are no new movies in hand. We have done all the sanitisation work inside the premises. We will only play three daily shows instead of five a day due to night curfew, which will start from 8 PM to 6 AM every day till August”, said Binodh.

Cinema halls were shut down following the announcement of lockdown on May 5 during the second wave of COVID-19. 

He further said that people in cities mostly visit cinemas on weekly holidays, but the government has imposed weekly shutdowns on Saturday and Sunday. This will hamper their business, he added. 

“We have to shut the hall before 8 pm as night curfew will take place. Hope, it will take one and a half months to get the business back on track again”, added Binodh.

Considering the current situation of Covid in Odisha, the state government has issued guidelines for the month of August which includes a state-wide night curfew from 8 pm to 6 am. The guidelines will come in effect from 6 am on August 1 and will remain in force till 6 am on September 1.

The weekend shutdown rule has been lifted, except in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, where the transmission of the disease is still high. (ANI)