‘Sufna’, ‘Shubh Mangal’- to bring charm as most cinema halls prefer to remain closed

A worker sanitises cinema hall in Jammu on Thursday.
A worker sanitises cinema hall in Jammu on Thursday.

Sanjeev K. Sharma

JAMMU, Oct 15: As cinemas opened in several parts of the country today after seven months, cinemagoers of Jammu city in the newly formed J&K Union Territory will have to wait more as most of the cinema halls here have decided to remain shut for some more days.
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However, Wave Mall Cinema at Channi area is the only in J&K Union Territory which is all prepared to bring charm to the cinemagoers as it is starting movies from tomorrow.
Manager (Operations) Wave Mall Cinema, Amit Bhatia told Excelsior that they will make a start with ‘Sufna’-a Punjabi movie along with ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan’-a Hindi movie.
He informed that there will be daily three shows in total with Punjabi movie ‘Sufna’ to be shown in two shows and one show will be with the movie ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan’.
“The first show will start at 12:00 noon which will be followed by another show at 3 pm and the last show will be at 6 pm daily,” Bhatia said adding: “Only one ‘Audi’ with capacity of 227 will be opened but we will use only 50 per cent of it and will accommodate not more than 113 persons as per guidelines.”
The Manager further said that there will be no increase in price of tickets and apart from digital tickets the usual counters will also remain open with all safety norms for those who face problems to get digital tickets.
“All covered, packed and hygienic eatable items will be made available for those watching the movies,” he maintained.
Bhatia also said that no one will be allowed without face mask and the cinema hall will be sanitized with recommended disinfectant before the start of every show.
Meanwhile, Indira Theatre near Canal Road will not start movies as renovation work is going on there while Platinum Movietime SPA at Palm Island Mall will not be bringing charm on the faces of cinemagoers.
Similar is the case of PVR at Jammu’s oldest KC Talkies cinema hall.
However, sources informed that Hari Talkie cinema hall may start movies after some days.
It is pertinent to mention here that in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities had allowed the theatres and multiplexes to open with stringent dos and don’ts from October 15.
As per guidelines of the authorities, the cinema halls can’t allow more than 50 per cent of their capacity while only packaged snacks could be made available for movie watchers besides thermal checks and deep sanitising of the halls is required to be done at regular intervals of time.