Cinema halls across the country will be permitted to operate at full capacity from February 1 with adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Prakash Javadekar announced on Sunday.
Adequate physical distancing, mandatory face masks and sanitisation of auditorium after every screening are among the latest SOPs issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Sunday, after the government allowed cinema halls to operate at 100 per cent occupancy from Monday.
Digital booking of tickets and staggered show timings to avoid crowding will be encouraged, the minister said, releasing a set of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
The government’s decision has been welcomed by Avinash Potdar, president of the North Karnataka Theater Owners Association. However, due to some oppressive conditions and non-availability of new big budget films, we have made it clear that we will not open cinemas 100 per cent from tomorrow.
As per the details available online, Globe and Inox are operational. Globe is showing URI regular shows where as Inox is having 3 shows 30 Rojullo Preminchadam Ela – Telugu 2 shows and Ramarjuna – Kannada 1 show.
