Cinema halls in Karnataka to voluntarily shut down from April 23 due to COVID surge

Following the announcement of theatres owners in Mysuru that they will be closing the theatres voluntarily shut down the cinema halls, the theatre's owners across the state of Karnataka have announced that they would also be shutting down the cinema halls from April 23 voluntarily for the same reason. It is to be noted that the state has imposed restriction on cinema halls to function with 50 per cent audience capacity and there are upcoming no big films.

Puneeth Rajkumar’s Yuvarathnaa, the recent big-budget film of Sandalwood, got barely a week of full occupancy in cinema halls. The makers also announced the film’s release on the OTT platform. Several films’ releases are postponed after the state government’s announcement of having a 50 per cent audience capacity. The exhibitors across the state have hence voluntarily chosen to shut down till the situation improves.

The president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce Jairaj D R was quoted as saying by The Times Of India, "This is currently the most practical and logical move and there was no need for any discussion or long debates on this. No big film wants to hit the screens. One of the films that released last week, Krishna Talkies, also decided to opt-out of cinema halls. Right now, it is important that we support the government's plan on ensuring there is a drop in cases."