Situationer: ‘Lights, camera, action’ needed to bring folk back to big screens

• 67 cinemas closed since 2018, film distributor says
• Only two movies being released this Eid
• Costs, cultural constraints affect cinema industry amid OTT boom
• Artists, producers say govt patronage key to silver screen revival

WITH a shift from big cinemas — whose prices were more affordable to a larger segment of society — to high-end multiplexes, a dearth of quality films and the rise in over-the-top streaming services, it feels like the curtain is falling fast on the silver screen industry.