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Curtains go up, but few moviegoers
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Cinemas were closed for more than 9 months. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Curtains were raised in a few movie theatres on January 1 after they remained closed for more than nine months due to the COVID pandemic.
Despite the permission to reopen, only a few multiplexes screened movies on January 1.
The Government took the decision to open the cinemas in a bid to provide relief to the local entertainment industry and artistes.
Film producer and theatre owner Sunil T. Fernando said he believed the move would not bring the expected relief to the industry as people were scared to come with their families to watch a movie in a theatre amid the pandemic. The poor crowd discouraged many theatre owners from reopening their businesses.
“We opened the theatres while adhering to health protocols, expecting the situation will eventually get better,” he said, adding that no one came to his theatres in Dalugama and Moratuwa.
Prior to the lockdown, of the 160 theatres in the country, only 127 were operating. There is little encouragement from the government for the local entertainment industry, he said.
Mr. Fernando said some 127 locally produced movies were still awaiting theatre slots and it might take at least two more years for the industry to recover from the setback. If proper assistance does not come, the local movie industry may even collapse.
“Given this pathetic situation, how could we invest in international movies and pay them royalty,” he asked.