On Wednesday, the Maharashtra government finally announced that the cinema halls can reopen in the state from today with 50 per cent occupancy outside the containment zones. No eatables will be allowed inside and SOPs for the same will be issued by Cultural Affairs Department and local authorities taking into consideration those issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The announcement has come as a respite for exhibitors and producers as Maharashtra contributes 40 per cent to the box office collections.

Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, featuring Manoj Bajpayee, Diljit Dosanjh and Fatima Sana Shaikh, will be among the first new releases. Shariq Patel of Zee Studios confirms it will open on November 13, in theatres. “Discussions are on with multiplexes, we need to be on the same page on VPF charges, OTT release window, showcasing, and revenue sharing model of box office collections, but I’m not thinking of a digital release at the moment. We have to support our fraternity but we need a longer run for every film as footfalls will be lower,” he points out, adding that there’s also a financial risk as they will be forgoing UK and Canada, big markets for a Diljit starrer. “I’m hopeful of a Diwali release.”

P V Sunil of Carnival Cinemas informs that at least a couple of films will now release on Diwali and they have the SOPs in place. When asked specifically about Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, he says, “I don’t think terms will be a hindrance to releasing a film at this stage. The business has to kick in now or we’ll all collapse together.”

Trade analyst Komal Nahta believes that there will be a steady flow of releases till the year end of small and mid-sized films as they can recover their investment from the sale of satellite and digital rights. “Yes, there would be some loss of profit but not a loss in monetary terms. Big budget films like Sooryavanshi and ’83 will, however, wait to see how the smaller films fare,” he avers.

Shibasish Sarkar, CEO, Reliance Entertainment, shares that Kabir Khan’s sport drama, ’83, announced as a Christmas release will now be pushed to 2021, along with Rohit Shetty’s cop drama, Sooryavanshi. “Christmas is no longer a possibility as we won’t be able to set up a marketing campaign within a month. Also, the overseas markets are important for both films and some of them have shut again due to second wave of Covid,” he points out, but is quick to add that with Maharashtra, virtually the whole country has opened up and they can plan now. “We’re looking at the January and March windows for ’83 and Sooryavanshi.”