The second wave of the pandemic has affected most business across the country. While some pockets seem to be on the road to recovery, others are trying hard to get there. Cinemas in India had gradually begun to open up in the thick of the festive season last year after remaining shut for several months. However, in April this year, the second wave of the pandemic forced theatre chains to pull down their shutters. In the last year, content consumption patterns and viewing habits have gone through a sea change with releases largely restricted to digital channels.

Emraan Hashmi believes that it might be difficult to point out what might draw the audience back to theatres when we get to the other side. The actor’s film, Mumbai Saga, was among 2021’s first big-canvas releases, shortly before the second wave.

Emraan says, “Today, we don’t know exactly what content people would like to consume in theatres. If I go purely by logic, small and medium-sized films with high content and big ideas might be consumed at home on digital platforms. It’s the experience of certain films that often draws people to spend and watch it on the big screen with sound effects. This is off-the-cuff thinking, but the big-ticket experience might draw people back to cinemas. What we call the tent-pole films. Why else would a consumer spend money to buy a ticket for a film that can be watched at home? A big action-adventure or a sci-fi film might draw the audience back to the theatres; that is where I see it going. I could be entirely wrong in making this assumption, and we can only find out when normalcy is restored and people start getting out of their homes without any fear.”