Cinemas will be allowed to open for longer hours on weekends and get subsidies on advertising banners, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Noorul Amin Mengal said in a meeting with cinema representatives here on Tuesday.
Cinemas in the city are currently allowed to hold three shows on weekends. The DCO said that they would be allowed to hold four shows on weekends and written permission in this regard would be issued soon.
The DCO also told the owners that he had recommended to the chief minister that taxes on cinemas be waived for the next five years. He said that the cinemas in the city were finally picking up after a 15-year slump and the government should do all it can to assist them in providing healthy entertainment for families in a safe environment.
The DCO also instructed the advertisements director at the Parks and Horticulture Authority to give a 25 per cent subsidy for promotion of films on steamers and banners.
At the same time, Mengal warned the cinema owners not to display any “vulgar” pictures on billboards or posters to promote films. He also said that they would be sealed if they showed any “vulgar” movies. He did not elaborate on what constituted vulgarity. He also told them to ensure that cinemas were kept clean and the food they served was hygienic. He said cinemagoers must also be provided security.
The cinema owners told the DCO that the government’s decision to allow them to show movies from Hollywood and Bollywood had led to the revival of cinema as a healthy recreational activity. They said that there were only functional 25 cinema houses left in the city.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2012.
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