Cinema halls reopen in Karnataka with 50% occupancy; Rewind re-releases this Friday

The second wave of the deadly

COVID

in 2021 took everyone by surprise, especially in Karnataka, which was among the worst affected states. Everything was shut down until a month ago, when the government slowly began relaxing rules in a phased out unlocking. Today, the Karnataka government has made the announcement that the

Kannada

film industry has been eagerly waiting for. They have given the approval for

cinema

halls to function with 50% occupancy with all the standard COVID protocols in place.

The rules released by the government reads, "Cinema halls, multiplexes, theatres, rangamandiras, auditoriums and similar places permitted to operate with 50% of its seating capacity strictly adhering to COVID appropriate behavious and SOPs issued by the concerned departments." This has brought in a sense of relief and joy in the film industry.

No sooner than this announcement was made, actor and filmmaker Thej, whose film

Rewind

had released the Friday before the Karnataka government announced that cinema halls will also be among the many things shut to curb the spread of the second wave, has declared that his maiden directorial venture is all set to hit the screens once again and it will continue with its deferred second week of screening.

There was also the

Krishna Ajai Rao

starrer horror film

Krishna Talkies

that had released on the same Friday that Rewind released. It is now left to be seen if the makers of this film will choose to release this film once again in cinema halls this Friday itself.