Recently, the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public Health had announced that vaccination is mandatory for those visiting public spaces such as cinema theatres, following which, Suresh Kamatchi, producer of Silambarasan TR-starrer Maanaadu, appealed to the state government to reconsider the decision and expressed concern that it might affect the film’s reception.
After suffering several roadblocks, including financial issues which temporarily postponed the film, Maanaadu released on Thursday as scheduled. A day before the film’s release, Silverscreen India spoke to stakeholders to find out what impact the new order might have on the film exhibition business. While some felt it might discourage moviegoers from coming to theatres, others were concerned about the ambiguity of the new order and how theatres could implement it at such short notice.
“An overnight order, with no warning, will affect us”
Maanaadu, which released on Thursday, was the first film to face this new protocol. In a statement addressed to the government on Monday, Suresh had expressed concern that the new mandate will affect the film industry as a whole by drastically reducing footfall in theatres.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Suresh said, “We are not against the law, but time period should be given to get the audience used to the idea. An overnight order, with no warning, will affect us. For instance, in case someone needs to go abroad too they need to get vaccinated. But they are given time to prepare for this. An order like this, just ahead of a big film’s release, will affect the business.”
Suresh further questioned how would people who do not have smartphones, would be able to produce their certificates. “Cinema is watched by all, not just educated or well-to-do people. Such immediate orders will affect a lot of people.”
The producer feels the government could have included this clause when it allowed full occupancy in theatres earlier this month. The Tamil Nadu government permitted full occupancy from November 1, just ahead of Diwali, when films like Annaatthe were released and received well by the audience.
Suresh added that as of Wednesday morning, no communication had been received in regard to his concerns from the government.
The producer also expressed fear that a considerable section of the audience might be discouraged from coming to theatres due to the vaccine mandate and instead opt to watch a film by other means. “Youngsters might still come, but the family audience won’t. They won’t plan to get the jab just because they want to watch a movie. Fans might, but the family audience won’t. So what the government needs to do instead of such mandates is educate the public about vaccination.”
Theatre owners concerned
Silverscreen India also got in touch with a few theatre owners across Tamil Nadu to understand how the new rule would affect them. While they admitted that pre-bookings for Thursday seemed largely unaffected, they confessed to worries that the new order would ultimately affect footfalls. At the same time, they also expressed hope that the magic of silver screens would draw the audience in, just as it did for Doctor and Annaatthe.
Santhosh, owner of the single-screen Vasu Theatre in Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, told us that pre-booking for Maanaadu was good and revealed that the first show at 8 am was housefull. Despite this, he felt that at least a small percentage of moviegoers will be affected by the new rule. He said these people might choose not to come to theatres and wait to watch the film on OTT later.
Echoing Santhosh’s views, Dilip Kumar of Malayandi Cinemas in Usilampatti, Madurai, said the theatre business was likely to get hit. “We will be opening the bookings only tomorrow (Thursday), so that’s when we will know. Also, it is not easy to check if each one has a vaccination certificate. We will only know tomorrow how things go.”
Venkatesh, owner of Woodlands Cinemas, Chennai, meanwhile, said his theatre had only seen “lukewarm” bookings. While some of it might be due to the new mandate, he also attributed this to the rain and the usual end-of-the-month fall in bookings.
Unclear guidelines and audience hesitation
Venkatesh questioned the need to implement the rule in privately owned and administered places. “As per the government statistics, 74% of Chennai residents have got the first dose. These rules should be first followed in government-controlled public spaces and only then imposed in private-owned premises,” he said.
He also echoed Suresh’s concern about how vaccine certificates could be produced by the segment of population that does not have smartphones. “Taking a printout is an extra step and this might discourage the audience too. Moreover, guidelines on how this vaccine mandate can be implemented are missing. How are we to check the authenticity of the certificates, for instance?” he questioned.
Srither S, joint secretary of Tamil Nadu Theatres Association, told Silverscreen India that they are expecting “favourable orders” on the matter from the government. He also added that the pre-bookings for Maanaadu were “very good” despite the new mandate.
Recommended
Tiruppur Subramanian, president of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, told Times of India that the association had made an appeal to the chief minister to reconsider the decision. “There are many people who are yet to get their second dose of vaccination while a few haven’t gotten vaccinated due to vaccine hesitancy. Plus, not everyone steps out with their vaccination certificate. At least 10-15% of audiences will hesitate to come to theatres because of this order. We have expressed our reservations to the chief minister explaining the difficulties in implementing such an order and the adverse effect it will have on movie-going and are hopeful of a favourable decision soon,” he said.
The TOI report also noted that moviegoers who had booked tickets, but were unaware of the order, were denied entry into cinema halls, leading to arguments with theatre staff.
As per the government guidelines, in order to enter cinema halls, an individual should be administered with at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. The rule is applicable to everyone above 18 years and the certificates are to be verified by the theatre at the entrance.
As per the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, as of Tuesday, a total of 6,44,55,844 people in the state have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Silverscreen India tried to reach out to producers of upcoming Tamil films such as Bachelor, Thalli Pogathey and Rajavamsam to find out how the mandate would affect their release plans, but they were unavailable for comment.