By the end of Sunday, one in every five theaters of Andhra Pradesh has been closed. Close to 200 theaters have dragged down the shutters in around 1000 theaters present in the state. The business is untenable in the wake of new rates imposed by the Government.
Some theaters were shut down by the Government for one reason or the other. And a few others voluntarily shut themselves fearing raids by the Government. Previously there used to be 3000 odd theaters in both the Telugu states, the advent of cable tv, multiplexes, OTTs, etc forced the closure of 2000 theaters.
Many theaters were closed permanently due to the pandemic. These 200 theaters are among those who have battled all odds to remain in the business. But what Corona could not do to them, a bad government policy has done. Meanwhile, Megastar Chiranjeevi is trying to get an appointment with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to sort out the issue.
The trade is hoping that it gets resolved by January 7th which is when RRR is going to release. So that they can make some money in the festive season. If the season is missed, many of the theaters are likely to go out of business in the coming days.
