The theater owners have been making repeated requests over months, to the Govt of Maharashtra to re-open and finally, the Govt seems to have relented.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced on Saturday that cinema halls and auditoriums in Maharashtra will be allowed to open on October 22.

The protocol that shall be followed, as movie theatres reopen, is in the works, and will be released soon.

This is great news as movie theaters in Maharashtra alone contribute 25-30% of total Hindi movie collections.

With Diwali round-the-corner, the theaters will now gear up for big bang releases like Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi, Ranveer Singh's 83, and Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha.

Inox Leisure is among the top five gainers on the BSE since morning, going on to hit a new 52-week high at Rs.412.20 and PVR too went on and hit a new high at Rs.1662.20.