Better days ahead: Apsara Cinama where Bollywood flick is being screened. Picture by Eastern Projections

March 17: The Tarun Gogoi government?s budget announcement of withdrawing the show tax and increasing the ceiling of service charge by Rs 2 per ticket has given a new ray of hope to cinema hall owners in the city struggling to stay afloat.

Several cinema hall owners, who had been contemplating bringing down the curtains due to an ?increasing dip? in business, are now optimistic of a reversal in their fortunes. They are confident of luring back the audience by offering a better deal. . This year?s budget allows hall owners to levy service charges at the increased rate, provided they invest the additional revenue in modernising the premises and the infrastructure. However, the investments must be to Dispur?s satisfaction.

The Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) welcomed the budget announcement and termed it the ?boost? theatre owners needed to upgrade technology and introduce modern amenities for the moviegoers.

However, EIMPA secretary A.I. Hussain said the increased service charge could be collected only when the crowds were back in the theatres. But he conceded that it was not the militant-imposed ban on screening Hindi movies alone that kept the audiences away. He admitted that poor infrastructure and lack of modern facilities at the theatres were largely responsible for the slump in revenues, especially in the city.

?It has become imperative for the owners to invest in modernisation projects. Since the budget announcement, many of our members have expressed their desire to re-start their businesses with a new zeal,? Hussain said.

He added that in this age of multiplexes, the theatres could not afford to stick to obsolete cinema exhibition set up. ?These days, when people go to a cinema hall, they want to do more than merely sit for three hours on uncomfortable chairs watching a movie and then head home as soon as the show is over.?

According to the secretary, the 50 per cent cut in entertainment tax for mini cinema halls may result in a spurt of such theatres in the city.

Phani Sarma, owner of Anuradha Cinema, welcomed the budget announcement and said his hall has already undergone modernisation. Of the 12 halls in the city, six were making moderate profits while the rest were just pulling through. While Anupama Cinema had been closed down two years back, Rupayan Cinema was turned into a market complex.

Hussain said financial institutions and banks should come forward with loans for modernisation of the halls. He, however, regretted that the financial institutions were not very eager to do so. Last year, owners of seven city theatres approached Dispur to persuade the financial institutions and banks to extend loans to improve infrastructure in the halls.