MUMBAI: As multiplexes across the country remain closed due to nationwide lockdown, the Multiplex Association of India (MAI) has appealed to studio partners, producers, artistes and content creators to support the cinema exhibition sector by holding their films and releasing them in theatres once they are opened again.

The appeal comes amid speculations that several films are looking at a direct-to-digital release amid the lockdown, including Akshay Kumar starrer "Laxmi Bomb".

MAI in a statement said, "MAI would like to urge all studio partners, producers, artistes and content creators to support the cinema exhibition sector, a vital part of the value chain, by holding and releasing their films in the theatres, once they open again.

"To this end, we urge all studios, producers, artistes and other content creators, to kindly respect the exclusive theatrical window, which has been a time-tested industry practice, agreed to by all stake-holders, not just in India, but even globally, for several decades," the statement read.

"The collective, social experience of watching films on the big screen needs to be preserved and it can be done so only with the collective support of all stakeholders," it further read.

Established under the aegis of FICCI in 2002, the national multiplex trade body represents more than 18 regional and national multiplex chains, including PVR, INOX, Carnival and Cinepolis, and operates more than 2900 screens across the country.

The association had previously appealed to landlords to waive off rent and common area maintenance (CAM) for all the multiplex operators during the period of the current nation-wide lockdown.

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