Kottayam: In a move to crush the lobby of private players, the government will set up theatres in rural areas with the participation of NRIs.

This year the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) is planning to set up 30 theatres in rural areas across the state, Cultural Affairs Minister A K Balan said at Paravoor near Kochi.

This is part of government’s plans to set up large network of theatre in the long run. The NRIs will have the option to invest in them.

The ‘B’ and ‘C’ class theatres have been sidelined by the ‘A’ class theatre promoters making it a monopoly business. It was a section of the big group who decided how many days a film should run in theatres.

This trend and other unhealthy practices will come to an end in coming years, he said at a function. The work on conversion of ‘Chitranjali’ studios in Thiruvananthapuram into a mini film city is progressing fast.

The project here is to construct maximum theatres. This will help in ending scarcity of theatres during international film festivals.