The interval theatre owners don’t want

Shahid Kapoor in Jersey

In the wake of soaring COVID-19 cases, a sense of fear has gripped the film industry. Discussions about an impending halt on theatrical releases finally took centre-stage after makers of Shahid Kapoor's Jersey pushed the film from its December 31 release date.

Cinema halls in Delhi have been temporarily shut down, and a similar development in Mumbai is anticipated as cases inch close to the 1400-mark daily.

Ranveer Singh in 83; (right) A still from RRR

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh doesn't deny that the theatre industry could see another period of lull, but he doesn't see the need to fret, just yet. "As of now, SS Rajamouli has assured us that RRR, which is the biggest pan-India film of recent times, will release on January 7. They have hosted an event in Kerala today as well."

He acknowledges that the closure of cinema halls in the capital has come as a blow. "It's a big market for Bollywood," he says, but highlights that with RRR releasing as scheduled, other film's from the distributor's stable are also likely to hit the marquee. "Pen Films' Jayantilal Gada is the Hindi distributor of the film. He will also distribute Attack, that releases late in January. The next few weeks are crucial to predict the fate of Hindi films. Akshay Kumar's Prithviraj is also among them."

Taran Adarsh

While filmmakers' decision is only one part of the issue, Adarsh admits that box-office collections won't look promising unless people are willing to head to theatres. The lukewarm performance of Ranveer Singh-starrer 83, he says, has only aggravated their fears. "The film held fort in the metros, but it hasn't [earned] as much as people had expected." The word-of-mouth promotions too, he suggests, did little to improve its performance.

While one may blame the rising cases as reason behind the film's lack-lustre Rs 60 crore collection, Adarsh points to the fact that collections of Spider-Man or Pushpa, which also released recently, weren't compromised.

"We can make several excuses, but that won't change the fact that a lot of people didn't watch 83 in theatres. It is worrisome, but as the industry adage goes, you win some, you lose some."
Meanwhile, Gaiety Galaxy owner Manoj Desai says that while they are currently functioning at 50 per cent capacity, they may be forced to air re-runs if filmmakers continue to defer releases. "This may continue until a huge announcement of another release is made. Now, filmmakers are again scared to release their films. It is a scary situation."