IFFI 2021: 50% occupancy ruins plan of delegates

The 52nd International Film Festival of India began the event and opened its doors to thousands of delegates on Saturday. With a long list of celebrity presence, the opening event was attended by guests. 

The opening film, The King of All the World was screened on multiple screens all at 7:00 pm, but the shows ran at 50% occupancy. 

The first screening of the show put rest to the question regarding whether the show will run at half or full occupancy. 

While the 50% occupancy of the screenings is put in place for COVID-19 related precautions, this means that a large number of the delegates will miss out on the movies that are screened. 

The results of this were seen at the online ticket booking slots, which opens at midnight, as tickets to movies were filled out in less than half an hour. 

"While the 50% occupancy of each screening inside the INOX theatres can be understood, it makes no sense that the same people who will watch the movie under social distancing had to stand in the queues in-crowd. The logic here is lost on me", said Krishnanunni, one of the delegates who attended the screening of the opening movie. 

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As the rest of the festival will follow the same format and allow only half strength in its screenings, the ticket booking hassle which begins every midnight is now more pressurising than ever for delegates.