<p>Cinema halls and multiplex screens remained shut in Andhra Pradesh though the Centre permitted them to reopen to half capacity from Thursday under Unlock 5.0.</p>.<p>Film exhibitors made it clear that they could not resume shows given the various constraints, primarily the steep maintenance costs.</p>.<p>Besides the financial burden, the other major issue that is deterring exhibitors from resuming business is the lack of new movies for screening.</p>.<p>As film shootings did not happen for more than five months now due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, no major Telugu movie is lined up for release immediately.</p>.<p>Films of top stars like Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun and Prabhas are expected to hit the screens only in January next year for Sankranti festival.</p>.<p>"Shootings haven't picked up yet and they may pick up speed only if the cinema halls reopen. But it will take some time for new films to release," noted producer-director Anil Sunkara told P T I.</p>.<p>But, the exhibitors say they have a whole set of problems to re-open cinema halls.</p>.<p>"The state government should first waive the power charges that are due. Though the Chief Minister promised to waive the charges during a meeting with film industry heads recently, relevant orders were not issued so far," Andhra Film Exhibitors Association president K S Prasad said.</p>.<p>He said the exhibitors were discussing the issue with Information and Public Relations Minister Perni Venkataramaiah.</p>.<p>More than 500 cinema theatres in the state could not pay the power bills in the last six months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, though the government levied only minimum charges.</p>.<p>Each theatre had to pay a minimum of Rs 4 lakh a month as power charges.</p>.<p>The total dues amount to about Rs 12 crore, the Exhibitors Association Secretary Gorantla Babu said.</p>.<p>The Association leaders said there were other issues because of which cinema halls could not be reopened.</p>.<p>"Each theatre has to spend at least Rs 4 lakh for implementing Covid-19 rules. Coupled with other expenses, we need to spend at least Rs 10 lakh a month to re-open theatres," they added.</p>
<p>Cinema halls and multiplex screens remained shut in Andhra Pradesh though the Centre permitted them to reopen to half capacity from Thursday under Unlock 5.0.</p>.<p>Film exhibitors made it clear that they could not resume shows given the various constraints, primarily the steep maintenance costs.</p>.<p>Besides the financial burden, the other major issue that is deterring exhibitors from resuming business is the lack of new movies for screening.</p>.<p>As film shootings did not happen for more than five months now due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, no major Telugu movie is lined up for release immediately.</p>.<p>Films of top stars like Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun and Prabhas are expected to hit the screens only in January next year for Sankranti festival.</p>.<p>"Shootings haven't picked up yet and they may pick up speed only if the cinema halls reopen. But it will take some time for new films to release," noted producer-director Anil Sunkara told P T I.</p>.<p>But, the exhibitors say they have a whole set of problems to re-open cinema halls.</p>.<p>"The state government should first waive the power charges that are due. Though the Chief Minister promised to waive the charges during a meeting with film industry heads recently, relevant orders were not issued so far," Andhra Film Exhibitors Association president K S Prasad said.</p>.<p>He said the exhibitors were discussing the issue with Information and Public Relations Minister Perni Venkataramaiah.</p>.<p>More than 500 cinema theatres in the state could not pay the power bills in the last six months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, though the government levied only minimum charges.</p>.<p>Each theatre had to pay a minimum of Rs 4 lakh a month as power charges.</p>.<p>The total dues amount to about Rs 12 crore, the Exhibitors Association Secretary Gorantla Babu said.</p>.<p>The Association leaders said there were other issues because of which cinema halls could not be reopened.</p>.<p>"Each theatre has to spend at least Rs 4 lakh for implementing Covid-19 rules. Coupled with other expenses, we need to spend at least Rs 10 lakh a month to re-open theatres," they added.</p>