Tamil Nadu allows 100% occupancy in cinema halls

Chennai, Jan 04: The Tamil Nadu government has permitted 100 per cent occupancy in cinema halls across the state. The government said that the permission has been granted owing to the reducing number of cases in the state.

While cinema halls were permitted to screen for a 50 per cent audience from November, there were hardly any new movies to screen at that time. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this move would be the Vijay starrer Master, which is slated for a January 13, Pongal release.

The film was to be released in early 2020, but had to be postponed owing to the pandemic. There were rumours of the film taking the OTT route.

Abirami Ramanathan a senior film producer, distributor and theatre owner told Zee Media, "we welcome this announcement as only big films will bring in crowds to theatres. As crowds start coming in for big films, even the other films will get patronage. When we opened in November to 50% occupancy, there were not enough movies to draw in an audience. We will function with all precautions in place."