Decision to impact recently-released Baaghi 3, and Angrezi Medium, which opens today
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 13, 2020)

On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that all cinema halls, along with schools and colleges where exams are not being held, will remain shut across the capital until March 31. The move comes after the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the Capital city rose to six.

The move to shut theatres will impact the Tiger Shroff-starrer Baaghi 3, which was going great guns, and Irrfan Khan’s comeback film, Angrezi Medium, which opens today. The Delhi market usually contributes 15 per cent to the total business. However, 28 per cent of the collections of the earlier film from the franchise, Hindi Medium, amounting to approximately Rs 18 crore, came from Delhi alone, a big market for Hindi films. “Angrezi Medium could have earned Rs 20 crore plus from Delhi alone, so it’s a big loss. Even Baaghi 3 was faring well in Delhi,” points out exhibitor Raj Bansal, adding that a few other states could also take a similar decision soon.

Meanwhile, the makers of Sooryavanshi have already pushed the release of the cop-drama indefinitely. It was set to open on Tuesday, March 24, in a unique release strategy to cash in on the Gudi Padwa festivities. This move could upset the calendar of Bollywood’s summer releases, including Kabir Khan’s sports film ’83, Janhvi Kapoor’s Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan’s comedy Coolie No 1 and Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund and Gulabo Sitabo. Salman Khan’s Radhe is sticking to its Eid date for the moment, but will reassess the situation towards April-end. Akshay Kumar would want a gap of a few weeks between his two releases, Sooryavanshi and Laxmmi Bomb, so the latter could also move.

At the time of going to press, the makers of Angrezi Medium, Dinesh Vijan and his studio partner Jio, emerged from a closed-door meeting in which they debated the release in the current scenario. The film opens today, as per original schedule.


Clockwise from above: Coolie No 1; ’83; Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl; Gulabo Sitabo; Radhe; Laxmmi Bomb