Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said attempts to ‘finish off’ the Hindi film industry aka Bollywood or ‘to shift it’ will not be tolerated.
“Moves to finish off the film industry or shift it elsewhere will never be tolerated,” a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office quoted him as saying at a meeting with multiplex and theater owners.
Thackeray’s statement came against the backdrop of probes by multiple agencies into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and its media coverage which was seen by some as a deliberate campaign to target Bollywood.
Thackeray said that Mumbai is not just known as the financial but also the cultural capital of Maharashtra, it said.
“Today, films on par with the quality of Hollywood are being produced in Bollywood. The fans of Bollywood are spread across the world. The film industry provides employment to many people and gives fame to artists. But in the last few days, a certain section is maligning Bollywood. This is extremely painful. The attempts to finish off Bollywood or shift it elsewhere will not be tolerated,” a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office quoted Thackeray as saying.
“In a cinema hall, people are in one room for nearly two hours and hence we want to ensure complete cleanliness and sanitization as well as physical distancing. There is a need to ensure that only 50 percent seats are occupied,” he said.