Krishna Talkies, the Kannada film starring Ajay Rao which released on April 16, will be withdrawn from theatres from Thursday owing to surging Covid-19 cases in Karnataka.
“Despite the film getting a positive response from audience and critics, people have no interest in coming to theatres now. Secondly, the decision taken by the government regarding malls, theatres or restaurants, will further restrict people. We can’t expect theatre owners to run the show with empty seats. Moreover, we felt that we should not public under health risk, which is most important. So, we decided to take off our film from theatres,” Vijay said, as per a a report by The New Indian Express.
He said that the decision to release the film was taken a month ago when the situation was still normal. The film will re-release the film once situations are conducive.
The horror-thriller film directed by Vijay Anand has been receiving a positive response from the audience since its release. The film also stars Apurva, Sindhu Loknath, Chikkanna and Pramod Shetty. Krishna Talkies technical crew consist of Sridhar V Sambraham as music director and Abhishek G Kasargod as cinematographer.
Karnataka reported 15,785 cases of Covid-19 cases on April 18, taking the tally of active cases to 1,42,084. In the wake of the the pandemic, theatres were shut down across the country from March 2020 following a nationwide lockdown.
In October 2020, when the Centre permitted theatres to reopen with 50% seating occupancy across the country, the Karnataka Film Exhibitors’ Federation announced that they would not reopen theatres in Karnataka until January 2021.
Later in February, the state government allowed 100% seating capacity in theatres. Following the second wave of Covid-19, a notice was issued by the Karnataka government on April 2 reinstating 50% seating occupancy in cinema halls as part of its revised guidelines.
Recommended
According to a report by The Times of India, nearly 30 single-screen theatres in and around Mysuru will remain shut from April 23. In a press release, the Karnataka Film Exhibitors’ Federation said, “As a small step in fulfilling our social responsibility towards containing the spread of Coronavirus and also to safeguard our workers and audience against covid-19 and to support the government to control and eradicate Covid -19, we have decided to close down theatres from 23rd April in Mysuru city, Nanjangud, KR Nagar and other towns.”