Cuttack: In a bad news for movie buffs and artistes, Jayashree talkies, a leading single-screen cinema hall in the Silver City here, has stopped screening of movies for ever.
Jayshree talkies had played a key role in popularising several Odia movies in the past, sources said. “Jayashree talkies will not screen movies anymore. It has been closed for good,” said an employee of the cinema hall. A few days ago, Nishamani, another single-screen hall in the city, was closed down and transformed into a Kalyan Mandap.
Many Odia film actors, meanwhile, expressed concern over the closure of several cinema halls in the Silver City. According to them, many Odia movies had been released in these cinema halls in the city. The closure of these cinema halls will adversely affect the Odia movie industry. Earlier, several popular cinema halls of the city including Hind cinema, Durga talkies, Raj Tarangini talkies and Devi talkies had faced closure for one reason or the other.
“The closure of Jayshree talkies is a bad news for Odia film industry. The cinema hall had screened the premier shows of several Odia movies. All leading cinema halls here have been closed down over the years. This trend will affect the future of Odia film industry,” said senior actor and producer Pradyumna Lenka.
Echoing the sentiment, director Bobby Islam said, “Single-screen cinema halls usually screen Odia movies. The closure of such halls will bring doomsday for the film industry. It will also affect the livelihood of hundreds of artistes.”
