Cinema halls in Kerala will be soon re-opening, ending its 10 months long halt due to the ongoing pandemic. Although Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan approved to open theatres in the state from January 5, with 50% capacity with following all Covid-19 protocols, the cinema halls remained shut as the government didn’t agree to several demands raised by the producers and exhibitors.
The representatives of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, Kerala Film Producers’ Association, and Distributors’ Association and, Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala met the CM and the government has agreed to the three key requests put forward by the film fraternity. “Exempted cinema theaters from entertainment tax from Jan to Mar(2021). Fixed electricity charges reduced by 50% for the 10 months during when theatres were closed. Validity of various licenses extended. Our creative industries will play a crucial part in the recovery,” the CM said in his tweet. Although the exact date on which the theatres would reopen isn’t currently known, it is expected that Vijay’s Pongal release ‘Master’ might be the curtain-raiser, for Kerala theatres on its reopening day. Vijay’s ‘Master’ is slated to release on January 13 and the actor has a massive following in Kerala, and hence it is expected that the film would give a good response for cinema halls in Kerala as well.
