Hyderabad: Here comes the good news for the movie buffs! Film theatres in Telangana re-opened today (July 2021) after a hiatus of more than three months.
The film theaters resumed business with the screening of three new Telugu films – 'Thimmarusu', 'Ishq - Not a Love Story', and 'Narasimhapuram'.
The first day witnessed a dull start as few moviegoers turned out. However, the number of viewers is expected to go up over the next few days. There are 160 theatres across the Greater Hyderabad in which single-screen theaters had poor turnout while some multiplexes had a bit busy day.
According to the movies company NOX, it welcomed the cine-goers at Hyderabad INOX at Banjara Hills, GVK One, and Maheshwari Parameshwari Mall. It said the theatre will be operated by a full vaccinated staff and it is strictly adhering to each and every Covid -19 guideline issued by the state government.
Despite the removal of lockdown and night curfew last month, the theatre owners did not resume the business immediately. The owners who suffered huge losses due to Covid-19 lockdowns had presented few demands before the government to overcome it.
The government has also given its nod to theatres to collect parking fee. Theaters have been closed for 12 months since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and imposition of lockdown in March last year.
The Telangana government had allowed theatres in areas outside the containment zones to reopen with up to 50 % of seating capacity on November 23, 2020.
The cinema halls shut down in the state due to the second wave of coronavirus in April this year.