THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Just a few weeks ago, they were squabbling with the government over the issue of wide release of Malayalam films. But that conflict has not come into play as far as the 16th IFFK is concerned. Profit or loss, the international film festival has become a tradition that theatres in the city can scarcely stay away from. Hence, renovation works are on at these theatres at a furious pace ahead of the festival, which is scheduled to open on Friday. ‘’From Tuesday onwards, we will be stopping the shows and concentrating entirely on the maintenance works. We have already dusted up the seats in the cinema halls and replaced many faulty ones too. Now there remains the painting job, for which shows have to be stopped,’’ said Soman Nair, the manager of the Dhanya-Remya theatre complex. He also said that they have serviced all the machinery and equipment at the theatre, including projectors, sound systems and air-condition systems. Soman Nair admitted that the toilets at the theatre, especially those for gents which lacked a roof, were major weak points. ‘’We are preparing for a massive change, during which the theatre complex will be developed into a multiplex, the works of which will begin in the near future. Hence, it didn’t seem viable for us to build a new toilet complex,’’ he added. City Express witnessed similar scenes at the other private theatres that were selected as IFFK venues. The same haste shown by the government to make its theatres look good and fill potholes on roads outside the theatres could be witnessed here too. Pradeep, manager of Sreekumar and Sreevisakh theatres, said that they had utilised the gap that fell during the film distributors’ strike to carry out most of the works. ‘’We replaced all the seats in the balconies of both theatres. The painting works are on. What remains is the repair of seats in the first-class section,’’ he said. He said that work at New Theatre, also run by the same management, was nearing completion. ‘’We have also postponed the release of a Mammootty movie ‘Venicile Vyapari’, which was to be released on Friday, for hosting the IFFK,’’ Pradeep added. Meanwhile, Sreepadmanabha Theatre, which has always remained a cut above the rest, has excelled this time too, its claim to excellence this time being cosy cushion seats installed early this year. The theatre also roped in professionals to carefully clean each seat and spray them with antiseptic lotion. However, there remained one theatre, Kripa, which for the second consecutive year chose to stay away from the IFFK since the movie ‘Swapna Sanchari’, that they are screening at present, has turned out to be a big grosser. Last year, the theatre had stayed away owing to the Dileep-starrer ‘Karyasthan’, which was collecting handsomely.
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