Jaya Cinema, perhaps the only privately-owned non-multiplex movie hall in the vicinity, reopened last Friday with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. But things are not looking up.
On November 25, the Lake Town theatre had on its Facebook page announced that it would reopen on December 4. “Big films require big screens,” they said. But box office collections by the end of Day 1 or even Week 1 are anything but big.
The Facebook page has more than 7,000 followers but not many responded online. “On the first day of Tenet release, we had only 10 per cent audience. Jaya has more than 700 seating capacity but we are now operational with only 185 seats. Still footfall is low,” said Debasis Roy, manager, Jaya Cinema.
The hall was closed right through the lockdown and opened during Durga puja. But when the crowds failed to return, they shut down again on November 17. “We have opened now but with Tenet we are selling tickets worth only Rs 1,800-2,000 a day,” said Roy.
While multiplexes of Salt Lake and New Town are screening Tenet too, cinema owners maintain that it will take a Shah Rukh or Salman Khan release before their fortunes turn. Also, they fear the crowd might not return to the halls before the vaccine arrives. The Jaya authorities had expected a decent run when Abir Chatterjee-starrer Switzerland released during the Pujas but that sank without a trace.
A scene from Tenet, the big Hollywood film that is playing at the theatre but failing to draw enough viewers Sourced by the correspondent
Spill-over effect
The lack of footfall has also spelt doom for food stalls, tea stalls and snack bars around the complex. “The opening day for any film shows what lies ahead. For Tenet, there has been no crowd, right from Day 1,” said Matthu Nath, who sells tea on the footpath opposite Jaya Cinema. “I remember how other English films used to draw viewers of all ages before the pandemic,” he said.
Agree owners of nearby snack counters, like King’s Grill and Urban Masala. “My sales have fallen rapidly. Earlier, people would come for a snack in between shows at the theatre. Unlike multiplexes, Jaya allows the audience to take food inside and during the interval, I used to keep a stack of rolls ready. The crowd would come and gobble up hot rolls in five minutes. I don’t see that happening anytime soon,” said one of the workers at King’s Grill.
Roy, the hall manager, said that if footfall remained this dismal they might have to shut down again.