Hyderabad: Cinematography Minister T. Srinivas Yadav on Friday clarified that there are no plans to shut down cinema theatres or impose curbs on occupancy in view of Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19.

He said the government was fully geared up to tackle the Covid situation and people can fearlessly go to cinema theatres to watch the movies. With some big budget movies starring leading stars scheduled for release on ‘Sankranti’, the rumours left Tollywood worried. In this context, a group of producers and directors called on the minister.

Srinivas Yadav said the film industry suffered badly for nearly two years due to the pandemic and just when it started to recover, fears of Omicron have emerged. The minister said though the state government is allowing screening of all shows with 100 per cent occupancy, for the last few days the number of viewers coming to theaters is not up to that level. He said after the release of “Akhanda”, the number of movie goers increased.