AP to reopen 83 seized theatres, issues deadline to renew licenses

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has given permission to reopen 83 theatres that were seized in nine districts.

Tollywood senior actor R. Narayana Murthy and film distributors met minister for cinematography Perni Nani on Thursday and the latter assured them that they would reopen the seized theatres in the state. The government, which has so far agreed to open cinema halls, has given the theatres a deadline to renew their licenses and other certificates.

The state government also directed the theatre owners to provide all necessary facilities within a month. The theatres that are willing to reopen have been asked to submit an application to their respective joint collectors.

Last week, special teams formed by the municipal, revenue, and police departments had conducted checks on movie theatres to find out whether the theatre owners were following norms such as selling tickets at standard rates, fire safety norms, and COVID-19 protocol. Theatres found selling tickets at high prices, running without any permission, and violating other regulations were immediately seized.

Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had suspended GO 35 that fixed the prices of movie tickets in the state and directed theatres to sell tickets under the old system. On this issue, many theatre owners had voluntarily closed down saying that they could not run their business on low ticket prices. With big movies ready for release, many theatres have been waiting for the government's response on ticket prices.