Indian Cinema Halls Prepare to Reopen Beginning October 15

The Indian government is allowing cinema halls and theaters to reopen beginning October 15, Forbes reports. However, theater owners have acknowledged that it may take months to fully recover after suffering financial losses for the past six months.

Raj Kumar Mehrotra, General Manager of Delite Cinemas in Delhi, says that since no new films are set to release in October, they will have to turn to older releases.

"It will take at least a few weeks before even the allowed 50 per cent capacity is full for shows," he said. Perhaps by Diwali, people may start coming out for entertainment."

Shikha Kapur, COO of Eros Motion Pictures, welcomes the move.

"The pandemic has led to a surge of content consumption across genres and platforms and this is a hugely encouraging indicator for content creators and providers," Kapur said. "Cinema is and will always remain an expression of creativity and imagination and we look forward to fostering a stronger bond with our audiences."

All theater chains have moved their ticketing systems online, and all theaters will have to be sanitized after each show. Theaters will be able to run three shows per day to allow time for sanitization.

Read more on Forbes.