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EXCLUSIVE: After Gaiety, Maratha Mandir Cinema owners get bank overdraft to pay workers amid lockdown
In an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Maratha Mandir Cinema executive director Manoj Desai tells us Akshay Kumar extended help to pay salaries of the workers but they declined it for THIS reason. Read.
In view of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown. Amid lockdown, employees have been laid off, the unemployment rate at an all-time high, daily wage workers among others are suffering the repercussions of the global recessions. While it was recently reported that Gaiety Galaxy owners had to take a loan from the bank to pay the salaries to the workers. Apparently, Akshay Kumar came to their rescue and pledged to help them in every way possible.
Apart from Gaiety, Maratha Mandir Cinema continues to remain one of the oldest cinema theatres in Mumbai. The iconic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has been running at Maratha Mandir for around 25 years now. With the lockdown announced, the owners had to face a setback with the movie not running for the first time in over two decades. We spoke to Manoj Desai, the executive director of Maratha Mandir Cinema who revealed that they have did faced a setback but they have applied for a bank overdraft to pay the salaries and wages of the workers working under them.
"This is a difficult time for every one of us, not just us. We have applied for a bank overdraft to pay the workers for this month and let's see what happens in the upcoming months given that people will take time to return to the cinema even after the lockdown is lifted. For multiplex owners, they have other businesses as well along with this but for people like us, we only have this. But, we are hopeful to be able to pull through," Manoj Desai said.
"Akshay Kumar had reached out to us to extend his hand if needed but honestly, we politely refused it because he is already doing so much. I am sure we will somehow pull this through," the executive director for Maratha Mandir Cinema added.
When asked if DDLJ will continue to screen post the lockdown is lifted given that normalcy will take time to return, Desai shared, "We will sit with YRF Studios and discuss and how we will go about that once things get back to little normalcy."
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