State to stick to 50 percent occupancy in cinemas till February 28

Bengaluru: The State government on Tuesday decided to continue with 50 percent occupancy in cinema halls till February 28 though the Union government a couple of days ago allowed reopening of cinemas and theatres to full capacity.

The government said, "Cinemas are allowed to run to their full capacity from Monday across India, as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. However, after reviewing the current scenario of Covid-19 and also considering the possible second wave of the virus, it has been decided that as a matter of abundant precaution and in the larger interest of public health 50 percent capacity of seating in cinema halls shall continue till 28th of February 2021".

The Central government has allowed cinema halls to operate at 100 percent capacity and issued a new set of SOPs (stand operating procedures) to be followed in line with the Covid-19 protocols.

Following the Union government's decision, many Sandalwood films were lined up for release in this month. Three Kannada films namely 'Inspector Vikram', starring Prajwal Devaraj, 'Shadow', starring Vinod Prabhakar, and Chandan Achar-starrer 'Mangalavara Rajadina'.

Speaking to The Hans India, Vikhyath AR, producer of Inspector Vikram, said "We worked a lot for many days and we were forced to wait till the end of 2020 because of this COVID. We somehow managed to announce the release date after hearing the Central government's decision. But now again we are back to square one which may lead to many problems. We have worked a lot to this date and we have requested many theatres to open and planned to screen the film on 290 screens across the State. So we are planning to approach the government on this issue."

Prajwal Devraj-starrer 'Inspector Vikram' is slated for release on February 5 and along with Chandan-starrer Mangalavara Rajadina, which is written and directed by Yuvin.