By DPA,
Kathmandu : Moviegoers in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu have been deserting cinemas because of the ongoing Cricket World Cup.
Rijaya Shrestha of QFX Cinemas said the number of moviegoers had fallen by around 50 per cent.
Cricket was affecting supply of films as well as demand, he said. “It has been difficult to attract viewers as no good Indian movie has been released.”
Indian filmmakers decided to postpone the release of many films to avoid having to compete with the cricket World Cup, being jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from Feb 19 to April 2, the daily Republica reported Wednesday.
The Big Cinemas company said its audience numbers had dropped by 60 per cent, while Gopi Krishna Movies theatre said its daily takings had halved from Nepali Rupees 40,000 (533 US dollars) per day to NRs.20,000.
Nepalese cinemas take NRs.600,000 per day from Indian films, which account for most of the country’s screenings.