The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Cinemas warned against switching off air-conditioners

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Cinemas warned against switching off air-conditioners

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, APRIL 12. Cinema halls in the city should not switch off air conditioners before the show ends, the Greater Chennai Police Commissoiner, R. Nataraj, said here today.

Flying squads would check whether air-conditioners were switched off even before the show was over.

The squads were formed after the police received complaints from cinema-goers that air-conditioners were being switched off in some theatres even while the show was on.

As per licence rules, fans should be switched on in non air-conditioned theatres. The squads would conduct checks and severe action would be initiated against the violators, Mr. Nataraj said.

Chennai and its suburbs have over 120 cinema halls. Almost half of these are air-conditioned theatres. But these are mostly part of big theatre complexes. Hardly nine or 10 stand-alone theatres have the A/C facility.

A film critic said the problem of switching off air-conditioners occurred only in cinema halls in suburban areas. There only the fans of big stars would watch the film within the first few days of its release. Members of fans associations wanted to see their matinee idols on the silver screen and were not bothered about the functioning of air-conditioners.

Later this week, three films featuring big names in Tamil cinema will be released and all tickets have been sold out.

The Commissioner said protection would be provided to theatres to curb the sale of tickets in the black market and to stop harassment of women there. Plainclothesmen and women would be posted to check violations. Action would be initiated against employees who sold tickets illegally.

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