intermission?

The fate of Eylex Fun ‘n’ Films — the first and only multiplex in Jamshedpur — now lies in the hands of the district administration.

State urban development principal secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni on Thursday asked East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Himani Pande to send a recommendation to reopen Eylex, situated on NH-33 beside Big Bazaar. The recommendation is a standard norm for granting licence to any movie theatre in the state.

“I have asked the deputy commissioner to send me the recommendation from a competent body for the re-opening of the multiplex. Only after getting the recommendation we can take a decision on issuing the state licence,” Kulkarni told The Telegraph.

Eylex has been closed for the last one month on the directive of the state urban development department for not acquiring a state licence, mandatory to run movie halls or multiplexes anywhere.

Eylex started its operations on September 30, 2011. It has three screens with a total seating capacity of 833. The total budget was about Rs 5 crore. The multiplex is spread over 25,000sqft.

Director of Eylex Fun ’n’ Films Anand Lohia was in the city on Thursday for some official work. Lohia and his team have said they are trying their best to complete all necessary formalities so that movie lovers can experience a multiplex once again in the city. Sources in Eylex have also said that builders ASL Fortune Construction Pvt Ltd should have taken the state licence as they were the ones to start the construction. The construction house later leased the floor to Eylex Fun ’n’ Films.

The cinema advisory committee led by Pande had met other officials at the district collectorate to discuss guidelines for a report which would have paved the way for the re-opening of the plex. The meeting was conducted on June 13.

“We are trying our best to re-start the multiplex,” said Lohia. Sources said the company was incurring losses to the tune of Rs 1 lakh per day due to the closure of the multiplex.