It appears that the film business is seeing a resurgence. Filmmakers began declaring release dates for their films soon after the news of the reopening of cinemas in Delhi.
As a result, while the first quarter may have started on a sour note, February and March promise to make up for it. “What theatres need today is content,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh, “and it’s coming up, there’s a huge picture week after week.”
“Spider Man No Way Home” and “Pushpa: The Rise” were both launched at the same time, according to Adarsh, and both fared extremely well. This also demonstrates that people are willing to spend deep into their money if the material is good. Let’s not point the finger onto the epidemic or the movie.”
Meanwhile, the filmmakers were adamant about waiting for a theatrical release. “We were waiting for the theatres, and we wanted the film to release just there,” explains Nagraj Manjule, director of Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund. That experience is distinct, and it is distinct on both television and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. We felt as a filmmaker and as a crew that a film like Jhund deserved to be seen on the large screen. We’ll all attempt to go to the movies now that things are getting back to normal.”
Allowing how many shows to which picture each week will be a major issue for theatres. INOX Leisure’s Chief Programming Officer, Rajender Jyala, describes this as a “nice problem” to have.
“February won’t be a problem for us, but March onwards will be a rush, with plenty of challenges, but it’s a nice thing to have compared to no material.” All of the limitations should be lifted by the time the blitz of releases arrives in March. “With 100% occupancy, there will be enough screens to handle two huge pictures on the same Friday,” he explains.
According to trade analyst Atul Mohan, even May release dates are being disclosed since there is no danger in doing so. “Because the producers have nothing to lose, they just make statements that indicate they are blocking that specific day, and if someone wants to clash, they should try to avoid it.”
