50 percent occupancy, social distancing, thermal screening, adequate protection gear for the staff, and compulsorily providing phone numbers for contact tracing are among the guidelines issued for reopening cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes from October 15th.
Several Tollywood films went OTT way in lockdown, while few waited for theaters to re-open. Though the announcement on cinema halls re-opening came, nobody is actually daring to announce release date of their films.
Apparently, they are waiting for another announcement. It’s actually not feasible to recover revenues with 50 percent occupancy. Moreover, audiences are not ready to watch films in theatres which they feel is a risking life.
Under these circumstances, they want to wait for another month or so, thus movie buffs mindset may change and also central government may allow 100 % occupancy.
Tollywood is surely going to miss Dussehra season and Diwali may witness few films gracing theatres. However, Christmas will be next big season for small to medium range films, as Sankranthi will see several big ticket films such as Vakeel Saab, KGF etc.
Let’s hope, the real cinema festival begins soon.