The monetary disadvantage of Covid-19 has dealt a brutal blow to single-screen movie theaters throughout the nation, however in Maharashtrathey face some special issues.
Right in the manner land taxation is calculated due to their own business to red tapism more than conversion of property usage, theater owners say the current principles in the country are making their own business unviable.
In a meeting to TOI, Sanjay Surana, whose family owns six picture theaters and who displays movies in 25 other theater halls throughout Maharashtra, states the lockdown might have become the proverbial final nail in the coffin.
Excerpts…
Q.
The practice of unlocking has started across Maharashtra and theaters are being permitted to open.
So, will not the fiscal hazard be over soon?A.
Not at all, since there are two facets to the fiscal issues that single-screen theaters are confronting.
First is the the past five decades at the crowd numbers are steadily moving.
The times of 500 to 700 individuals coming to see a film are gonenow single-screen theaters barely get 250 to 300 individuals.
Even the Covid-induced lockdown has contributed to zero revenue however, the costs are still ongoing in the shape of lease, taxes etc..
The next problem is that there aren’t any new releases to show.
Therefore, even when I open my own’store ‘, then there are not any products to market.
Q.
This issue has to be prevailing pan-India.
Just how bad is the problem in Maharashtra?A.
We’ve got about 400 single-screen theaters in the country of which 20 percent have dropped financially.
They will not be reopening their doors .
The remainder of us now have in the piled up enormous debts because repayment has ceased because of zero earnings.
Until date, the state administration hasn’t given us some concession on mended electricty fees, real estate taxes or waivers of loan EMIs.
Had it been some other nation, the problem would have been solved quickly.
Q.
Back in Maharashtra, are there bureaucratic challenges that prevent resolution of theater owners’ problems?A.
We’re the only country in India where several very strange problems special to film theaters exist.
First is that the calculation of land taxation, which is generally done on the grounds of this plot/construction area.
However, in Maharashtra, it is calculated on a theater’s seating capacity.
A program to decrease the capacity becomes stuck for many years in bureaucratic maze since all decisions have been taken in Mumbai.
I’ve got one picture theater where taxation is still being compensated for 800 chairs but in fact the capacity is already reduced to approximately 500.
Many theaters have decreased capability by default since the physical dimension of seats has also improved.
This in turn has significantly decreased the total seating capacity by 30 per cent.
There is a little theater in Jalgaon district which obtained a tax requirement of approximately Rs 1.2 lakh whereas his earnings throughout the Covid-19 age (if it had been permitted to start ) was barely Rs 15,000 a month.
The meals cart owners out his theater were performing better company.
Q.
If industry is really unviable financially, then why don’t you start something fresh on the home because film theaters are essentially prime business estates?A.
That is a very distinctive issue for our nation.
Permission to modify land use has to be obtained from Mumbai and I am conscious of software which have been pending for decades.
In countries like Chhattisgarh, these decisions are taken in the district level and therefore are disposed off in a couple of months.
Back home, to have the house owner’s title changed is complex.
Because the majority of these properties are on long-term rentals, there are several centuries and heaps of owners on document that further complicates the issue.
There is 1 theater in Maharashtra whose property possession today is located with 130 individuals spanning three generations.
Thus, even if one individual objects, the complicated land transport problem, further strikes a road block.
Q.
However there has to be some institution whereby you’re attempting to solve these problems using the government.A.
There are 3 active institutions in Maharashtra since the territorial authority of film distribution and broadcast rights differs.
Thus Vidarbha and Khandesh are insured by means of an institution that also manages Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, whereas Marathwade is insured with a Hyderabad-based institution whereas Mumbai and western Maharashtra is insured by a third party thing.
No matter the 3 institutions have worked during the Devendra Fadnavis-led authorities, we’d nearly agreed on a last remedy to solve this problem.
But in 2019, the authorities changed and today, the whole problem is back from the cold storage.
Q.
What type of a future do you anticipate for unmarried display theatres?A.
It is going to be quite tough due to our impending financial difficulties and understanding concerning Covid-19.
I really don’t understand why folks think that theaters spread the virus since we had been closed during those last couple of months, and the next wave arrived.
So for items to pick up, we now want really great content to place on the display in addition to the assurance of the viewer to return to theaters.
And if all goes straight from today on, it is going to require five or more years to get single-screen theaters to attain some degree of monetary stability.