Elections, lack of new releases force Single theatres in Hyderabad to shut down from Friday

HYDERABAD: Curtains will come down in some of the single-screen theatres in Hyderabad from Friday for a week. While the decision to shut down will be individual, some single theatre owners and lessees might reopen after a week with some new releases of low-budget type lined up.

There are 250 single-screen theatres left in Telangana and around 80 in the twin cities. Balgovind Raj Tadla, of Sudarshan and Devi theatres and also secretary of the Telangana Exhibitors and Contractors Association told NewsTAP on Wednesday that lack of content was the main reason for the single theatres deciding to declare a holiday.

“The main problem is lack of content. There have been no releases during the past month. In my theatre, I am running Pratinidhi-2. There are no collections. Many multiplexes also shut down a few screens, because they can run other screens. But for single-screen owners, there is no other alternative than shutting down.

While many theatres in Hyderabad were rented out., with no collections during the summer, the tenant operators were not able to pay the rent. “During January Kesri and Jawan ran very well and the single screens did good business. Now there is only one movie, Darshini scheduled for release in Devi,” Balagovind said.

The single theatre owners had been demanding better revenue share. For instance, the revenue share of multiplexes will be around Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for every Rs 10 lakh earned as opposed to the single-screen theatres earning in the range of Rs 30,000 for every Rs 10 lakh earned by the producer.