As per the recent guidelines from the central government, cinema halls and multiplexes across the country can reopen on October 15 with 50 per cent seating capacity. However, there is no announcement from the Maharashtra state government regarding when cinemas across the state will reopen.Talking about a meeting held on Tuesday with the state cultural affairs minister Amit Deshmukh, Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India president Nitin Datar said,
“We the theatre owners have decided that if we don't get new Hindi films for theatrical release at the moment, we will play regional movies in languages like Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, and Gujarati besides South films, and we will also repeat-run previously released Hindi or English films, whatever suits our budget. This way, we can at least start business. Then we will act as per the response of the audience," said Datar.
Highlighting the importance of the state from the angle of cinema business, Datar added: "Mumbai and Maharashtra form a major circuit from where the government as well as the film industry earns money. Business coming from Mumbai and Maharashtra is around 30 to 40% of the total business of India. Unless the theatres reopen, distributors will not be keen to release films. So, the Maharashtra government should take an initiative for the film industry, otherwise the film industry will lose and exhibitors in the other states, which have permission, will find it difficult to get the new films."