On Wednesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs had told the state government to withdraw its order allowing 100 percent occupancy, stating that it is not in line with the MHA’s guidelines on theatre and multiplex occupancies.
A letter from the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla specified that the Home Ministry has extended the guidelines till 31 January.
“State/UT governments shall not dilute these guidelines…in any manner and shall strictly enforce the same,” the letter read.
The state government’s order comes after several requests from the film fraternity, especially actor Vijay, whose film Master is slated for release on 13 January. The actor had reportedly met with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and requested him to allow 100% occupancy in theatres. Actor Silambarasan too had requested the CM the same ahead of his film Easwaran, which is also lined up for release for Pongal.
Theatres were allowed to partially reopen as part of the unlock guidelines issued in October by the…