Tollywood roots for audience support to save the cinema halls

It’s really heartbreaking to see single screens in Kolkata temporarily shutting down due to lack of audience while at the same time, the Bhojpuri industry went houseful during Diwali.
Like his industry colleagues and friends, filmmaker Subhrajit Mitra who is eagerly waiting to release his much-anticipated film ‘Avijatrik’ in theatres feels the entertainment industry needs audience’s support more than ever now.
“It is understood that we didn't have any big-ticket releases during Durga Puja, but still the footfall was shocking. People have started going to pubs and restaurants. Then why are they not watching films in a theatre I wonder. Our industry needs support more than ever now. What we need is a big-ticket release and see how it goes,” an optimistic Subhrajit shares with ETimes.
Citing such a low audience turnout as the main reason, as many as five single-screen cinema halls in the city including the iconic Priya, Menoka, Basushree, after resuming business mid-October, have now decided to down the shutters and wait for the situation to improve. However, December might offer some home for the hall owners as quite a few interesting films, including ‘Kakababur Protyaborton’, ‘Habji Gabji’ among the Bengali ones, are slated for theatre release.
Meanwhile, many cinema halls in the city and suburbs are screening Soumitra Chattopadhyay-starrer 'Sanjhbati', as a tribute to the iconic actor, who passed away on November 15.