The Tamil Nadu government faced severe backlash over the past few days for increasing theatre occupancy to 100 per cent ahead of the release of Vijay's Master. On Wednesday, the Centre directed the state government to revoke its order, and fall in line with the 50 per cent occupancy protocol. While this earned a nod of approval from frontline workers who had argued that the previous order put public health at risk, trade circles are wary that the move will have producers playing on the back foot again.

"The first-day collections of Master will be halved. The only positive takeaway is that the loss made in each show can be covered by increasing the number of shows," explains trade analyst Akshaye Rathi. He reasons that while tentpole movies like '83 and Sooryavanshi can be held off, Bollywood producers should part with their mid-budget films, thus offering them fresh releases. "Red [Telugu film] is being released, as is the big-budget Bhojpuri film, Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Mnn Bhaye. Hindi film producers can follow suit. Movies like Toofaan, Bunty Aur Babli 2 and Jayeshbhai Jordaar can be released. Mumbai Saga has been apparently sold to Amazon Prime Video, when it could have been a theatrical offering."

Satadeep Saha, distributor of Master in West Bengal, adds, "The cases are at a low. Theatre occupancy can be raised to 75 per cent."

Looking at the positive side, Ramesh Bala predicts that box-office clashes will reduce here on as they will be a no-win situation for producers and exhibitors. "In Tamil Nadu, there's talk of forgoing local body entertainment tax to support theatres. Everyone needs to come together to stop films from pursuing an OTT release."