Kiccha Sudeep says the audiences are the only ones who can revive theatres and how the presence of OTT has affected it

The single-screen theatres of Karnataka, which were the backbone of the movie industry, have been closed down. It appears that the single-screen theatres were making significant losses since they were unable to perform the shows with 50% occupancy. Therefore, movie theatres made the decision to close them till things get back to normal. Three theatres in Mysuru city are among the approximately 30 theatres in Karnataka that were permanently closed down because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Talking about this problem and how the industry might be affected by this, Kannada star Kiccha Sudeep asserts that "reviving theatres is not in our hands."

Sudeep says, “Reviving theatres is totally in the hands of viewers, also who need to come to theatres and not just stick to OTT platforms. OTT platforms are very beautiful platforms and I totally agree. But reviving cannot happen with only one-hand clapping. One hand is the film industry (includes directors, writers, actors, producers) and there's one big hand that can clap together, are the viewers. Reviving theatres is not in our hands. People are still making films and there are 60-70 films released from each industry every day. But what is happening? People are not coming to the theatres and then suddenly, don't say cinemas are not good. But since OTT is happening, people know in 2-3 weeks it will come."

Meanwhile, Sudeep starrer Vikrant Rona was released in theatres last week. The film received great responses and reviews by the weekend. Directed by Anup Bhandari, the suspense drama further stars Ravishankar Gowda, Nirup Bhandari, Madhusudan Rao, and Vasuki Vaibhav in pivotal roles, along with others.