Shutters down on seven cinemas in south Mumbai

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) While cinema halls here have re-opened Friday and the filmmakers are going ahead with their release plans, seven picture halls remained closed following the terror strikes in the city.

The Regal, Eros, Metro BIG Cinema, Liberty, New Excelsior, New Empire and Inox situated in Bori Bunder(VT), Fort, Churchgate and Colaba in South Mumbai won't screen any movies.

The single-screen movie halls and the multiplexes were closed Thursday after Mumbai Police Commissioner asked the management to keep their properties shut as a security measure.

Though no fresh directive to do so has come from the Police Commissioner Friday, the managements of these halls have unanimously taken a decision to keep their properties shut as a precautionary measure.

South Mumbai localities are the worst hit in the terror that struck Mumbai Wednesday night. The Regal cinema, in fact, is situated directly behind the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the Inox at Nariman Point is close to Oberoi Trident, the two luxury hotels the terrorists have laid seige to since Wednesday.

Normally, the movie halls in South Mumbai are much sought after by the distributors to open their new releases.