Hyderabad Top News

Single-screen theaters in Telangana to shut down for 10 days

Sudarshan Theatre

HYDERABAD: Some single-screen theaters in Hyderabad will be closed for 10 days starting this Friday. The decision to close down will be made by each individual theater owner. The decision to close theaters was made due to a prolonged box office slump caused by a lack of significant film releases.

However, some owners may choose to reopen after a week with new low-budget movies lined up for release. Among these Raju Yadav, Akkada Vaaru Ikkada Unnaaru are declared to release on May 17th. Maximum number of theatres might be reopened with the release of films like Gangs of Godavari, Harom Hara, and Love Me etc.

The Secretary of the Telangana Exhibitors and Contractors Association, Balgovind Raj Tadla, mentioned that the primary reason for single theaters declaring a holiday was the lack of content. He explained that while many screens in multiplexes were closed, they still operated a few screens with content in other languages, which single screen theaters were unable to do.

Rising costs, including electricity bills, add to theaters’ financial woes.

Currently, due to the ongoing IPL matches, elections public are not coming to theaters. Additionally, with the increase in electricity bills, which we cannot afford to pay, we have decided to keep theaters closed for a few days,” said Shridhar Vanka, Vice President of the Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC).

Shridhar mentioned that if only a few audiences come to single-screen theaters, it is difficult to cover the expenses, especially when collections are not up to the mark. He added that to run theaters, a significant burden is placed, and funds need to be collected from the public. Therefore, we have decided to keep them closed for now.

Audiences have stopped coming to movie theaters, and even good movies are not attracting them. “Realizing the difficulty if the situation continues like this, the decision was made to close about 450 single-screen theaters in the state of Telangana.” said Vijayendar Reddy, President of the Single Screen Theater Owners Association.