Navina cinema hall to suspend screening of films from April 23

A popular single screen in Kolkata has decided to suspend screening of films from April 23 in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases. The owner of Navina single screen, located in the Tollygunge area, Navin Chokhani said the decision was taken in view of health considerations of the average public. "We will suspend the operations for some time on public health issue. We hope to be back as soon as possible," Chokhani said.

The owner of Menoka cinema hall, another prominent single screen in the city, Pranab Roy said "we are also mulling to temporarily close the theatre from next week till the situation improves. "With no big releases lined up and in view of the situation in Mumbai where COVID-19 has reached alarming proportions we have to wait for a better time when people will throng theatres again," he added.

The owner of Priya cinema Arijit Dutta said there is very very poor turnout in the hall and running theatres is not viable anymore. However, Priya is yet to arrive at a final decision. The cinema halls were opened with 50 per cent occupancy in mid-October 2020 during the unlock period after the COVID-19 outbreak which was raised to 100 per cent occupancy in January 2021. However, this failed to attract a decent crowd to the halls in all these months.