By Renuka Dhakal

Kathmandu, Dec.15: Almost all areas closed due to the risk of COVID-19 infection have now resumed.
The areas that are considered highly risky for coronavirus infection, such as public transportation, domestic and international flights, schools and zoo have already resumed their business.
However, there has been no plan to open cinema theatres that have remained closed since March.
Despite the continuous appeal of the producers and filmmakers to the government, resumption of the cinema halls has still been uncertain.
In the last nine months, the films halls have suffered huge losses, and the film entrepreneurs have worried as to how long they should bear the losses.
Tirtha Poudel, General Manager of Gopi Krishna Hall, said that millions of rupees have been lost due to the closure of cinema halls.
He said that about 95% of the staff has been laid off since Asar as there had been no sign of opening the shut movie halls.
However, he said that even if the movie halls are completely shut down, the basic expenses like electricity tariff, bank interest, expenses to the employees and other expenses are borne by the film halls. Poudel also said the government should provide relief for cinema halls to make up the expenses.
Roshan Adiga, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Team Quest, the parent company of QFX Cinema ,said that they have given unpaid leave to all the employees since Asar.
QFX, a chain organisation consisting of many halls across the nation, has plunged into the unprecedented losses, said Adiga.
Meanwhile, Nepal Motion Picture Association has said that even if the government does not allow the opening of cinemas, they will open halls from December 25.
In a statement issued on Monday, the association said that it would operate the closed cinema halls following the WHO health protocol. But the government has not given permission to open the halls.
The association has made various demands such as the government should include the film sector in the worst affected areas, electricity bills should be completely waived when the cinema halls were not in operation, and evade the entertainment tax and film development fee.
They have also demanded the exemption of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Nepali films for two years along with many other demands.