Highlights:
- Madhya Pradesh allows cinema halls to reopen
- The MP government has allowed the cinema halls to run at 50% capacity only
- States including Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat have already allowed cinema halss to reopen
The Madhya Pradesh government has allowed the cinema halls in the state to run at 50% capacity, following close on the heels of states like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana.
To ensure, the trade experts are projecting a grim picture for the Indian movie business on the back of the permanent shutdown of several movie theatres across the country, with the audiences remaining wary of returning to cinemas and most big-ticket films unlikely to release soon even after restrictions are eased post the second COVID-19 wave.
In 2021 alone, this can cause the Bollywood industry a loss of between ₹ 3,000 and ₹ 4,000 crore, the experts say. The Indian movie business slumped by 75% in the year 2020 as per the recent PwC report.
While in the January to March quarter of 2021 managed box office earnings barely touched ₹ 50 crore, the second quarter has been a complete washout as the first movie release, Akshay Kumar’s Bellbottom, now scheduled for the end of July.
The release of the crime thriller remains uncertain given that key territories for the Bollywood industry including Delhi and Maharashtra are yet to grant reopening permits to the cinema halls.
A number of analysts also point out that similar to big filmmakers were hesitant about bringing expensive star movies to the cinemas for months after reopening permits came in last October, they are likely to take it slow this time as well, with different seating capacities and state regulations adding to the chaos.
Additionally, similar to the year before, the big summer season that sees tent-pole titles from both Hollywood and Bollywood hitting screens and is a coveted period thanks to school vacations, has been wiped out.
Having said this, a ray of sunlight comes from the fact that there are several Bollywood movies, including Sooryavanshi, ‘83, Atrangi Re, Jayeshbhai Jordaar, Prithviraj, Jersey, Lal Singh Chaddha, Satyameva Jayate, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bachchan Pandey, Pathan, and Cirkus are waiting it out for theatrical release.
