Cinemas can reopen with 50 per cent seating capacity from Saturday, said a notification issued from Nabanna a couple of days ago. But most halls, single screen as well as multiplexes, remained shut on Saturday.

Most owners said the preparations for Covid protocols would take a few more days. But the absence of new films was the main hurdle for reopening of the halls, they said.

The halls in Calcutta have remained shut for three months. Many employees have returned home in districts. In the absence of regular train services, coming back to the city is a challenge.

“Ensuring the Covid protocols, sanitisation and checking the operational readiness of projectors, screens and other equipment will take a few more days. We are expecting to be ready for opening by next weekend. But the question is content. In the absence of new releases, there is a serious lack of content,” said Pranab Roy, the owner of two standalone halls — Menoka in Southern Avenue and Asoka in Behala.

The Mumbai film industry is the main supply line that feeds halls. The absence of new Hindi film releases has hurt the distributors and hall owners badly.

Many upcoming big budget films have been stalled for a long time because of the pandemic.

The Telegraph has reported multiple times how the Covid-19 pandemic has sounded a possible death knell for many single screen theatres across Bengal. Unable to bear the mounting losses and fixed overhead expenses, several halls have shut down for good in and around Calcutta.

Most multiplexes were also shut on Saturday. “The preparations for re-opening are underway. We will open from August 5,” said Amitava Guha Thakurta, regional director-east, INOX Leisure Limited.

For content, the chain is for now banking on a couple of upcoming Hollywood releases.