By Renuka Dhakal
Kathmandu, July 13: Many movie theatres in Nepali are now on the verge of closure because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the past 16 months, film production has come to a standstill, and filmmakers have not dared to release their films which they produced before COVID-19 hit the nation. The movie halls were closed for months during the first wave of COVID-19. Even after the government allowed the halls to resume business, they failed to get movies while people hesitated to visit halls fearing COVID-19. They were shut again in April this year after the second wave of COVID-19 hit the nation, further affecting the halls.
Jai Nepal and Kumari cinema halls, the two old movie halls of Kathmandu, have already been out of QFX chain because of lack of business.
According to Roshan Adiga, Chief Executive Officer at Team Quest, Jai Nepal and Kumari Halls were operated under the QFX chain but now, both the halls are out of the QFX chain. Instead, the QFX chain has added two cinema theatres in Damauli and Birjung.
Adiga added that QFX is now focusing on multiplexes and now with the two new halls outside Kathmandu Valley, it has now 12 cinema theatres under its chain.
“We are not in a hurry to open cinema halls now because we have experienced that even if the halls are opened, people do not visit them. We will open the cinema theatres once the risk of pandemic is reduced and the filmmakers become ready to release their vnew films,” he added.
At present, all the film halls under the QFX chain are operating with only 10 per cent of its staff as 90 per cent employees working in those halls have been laid off after they were shut due to COVID 19, said Adiga.
After the first wave of pandemic, one of the oldest and popular halls, Gopi Krishna Movies, decided to raze a few of its halls and build a tall one, which is now under construction.
Even though, the halls like Gopi Krishna, Radha and Mira were razed, the owners of the hall are planning to operate the halls including Om, Namha and Shivaya to keep the audience connected with the legacy of the hall.
A few weeks ago, actor cum filmmaker Ashok Sharma, who is also the general secretary of the Film Association, had said that 22 movie halls had been closed since the government imposed lockdown in March last year to contain COVID-19 and 30 to 40 more cinema halls were in the verge of closure while millions of rupees invested in films was at high risk.
At present, there are about 193 halls in operation across the country. The film halls are hit hard by COVID-19 and many halls have been closed forever after the theatre business got affected for a long time.
According to Madhusudhan Pradhan, President of Nepal Motion Picture of Association, about 25 cinema theaters have been completely closed and a few others are on the verge of total closure.
He said that the film halls are at a great risk and many people working with them have lost jobs.