CINEMA HALLS TO FINALLY OPEN IN MAHARASHTRA THIS FRIDAY!

The day is finally around the corner. Two days from now, on October 22, theatres will finally be allowed to resume operations in the crucial state of Maharashtra. We have spoken in this column about how the Maharashtra government has been quite unfair to the film industry. The state contributes nearly 30% of all India business. Hence, without Maharashtra, it was not practical to release a Hindi film. It was no surprise that only 3 major Bollywood films released post the second lockdown – Bellbottom, Chehre and Thalaivii. The first two announced the release dates with the hope that Maharashtra would open up by August 15.

What shocked many was that the cases have been declining steadily almost everywhere in Maharashtra since June. The same month, the government announced a very practical plan of starting theatres and other businesses in cities or districts with least positivity rate. As a result, cinema halls opened in some towns for a few weeks. But this plan was taken back after fears of Delta Plus. Meanwhile, from July onwards, theatres were allowed to open in several states. By mid-August, except for Maharashtra, Kerala and some minor states, cinemas were operational all over the country.

The industry sadly was too scared to openly speak about their anger. Nevertheless, they continued having meetings with the government. Finally, on September 25, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray agreed to open cinemas but from October 22. The industry was overjoyed. However, a few wondered why can’t the theatres start immediately. Also, there were fears that the government might push this date if the cases increase due to the festivals. Moreover, cinema hall owners were also worried that if the government doesn’t allow shows at night, then it can affect the business. The last bit worried the producers too.

But fortunately, the cases reduced instead of increasing. The government didn’t play any mischief and cinemas are opening on October 22 as scheduled. And earlier this week, it allowed restaurants to operate till 12 midnight and shops and malls till 11:00 pm. This made it clear that there’ll be no night curfew and that theatres can play night shows.

Since cinema halls were open in other states, a lot of Hollywood films were released and some of them even did well. Most of these films would make it to cinemas in Maharashtra from October 22. These include Venom: Let There Be Carnage, No Time To Die, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, Free Guy and Jungle Cruise. Bellbottom, Chehre, Thalaivii and a small Hindi film starring Faisal Khan, Faactory, will arrive in cinemas too. Then regional films like Doctor (Tamil), Love Story (Telugu), Honsla Rakh (Punjabi) and Qismat 2 (Punjabi) would be screened in select multiplexes.

Two Hindi films would release tomorrow across India, and also in Maharashtra. One is Bhavai, starring Scam 1992 star Pratik Gandhi. It was earlier titled Raavan Leela but its title was changed due to protests. Despite this controversy and Pratik Gandhi’s presence, there’s no excitement. The other Hindi film is Babloo Bachelor, starring Sharman Joshi and Pooja Chopra. Its trailer was poor and it’ll sink without a trace.

Finally, two Hollywood films are also arriving in cinemas tomorrow. While The Last Duel would release across India, the much awaited film Dune would release everywhere except Maharashtra. This is because it won’t get sufficient IMAX and 4DX screens in the state as these screens will be taken over by films like Venom: Let There Be Carnage, No Time To Die and Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. Hence, Dune will be available in Maharashtra from October 29.

Hence, as one can see, there are plenty of options for cinemagoers from tomorrow. Most of the films sadly won’t get sufficient footfalls but a lot of hope is riding on Venom: Let There Be Carnage as it released just last week elsewhere and did great business.

WILL MAHARASHTRA CINEMAS OPEN SOON?

The flow of Hindi film releases has once again stopped. Bellbottom kickstarted the movie-watching season followed by Chehre and Thalaivii. The reason why no more films are releasing is because the crucial state of Maharashtra is still shut. What’s shocking is how the industry is silent. The losses are mounting and survival has become difficult for the theatre owners in the state. Yet, except for some token gestures and pleas to open cinemas, the exhibition and production sector isn’t doing much. Away from the limelight, the industry stakeholders have met the Maharashtra government officials and have requested them to allow the reopening of cinema halls. But unlike shop owners and the restaurant industry that did public protests and put immense pressure on the government, the conduct of the film industry, in comparison, is lacklustre.

However, since the past few days, some murmurs are going around in the industry and trade that cinema halls would finally be allowed to reopen in Maharashtra. While some predict that it’ll happen in the first week of October, some have claimed it can happen as early as next week.

The Ganesh Chaturthi festival was celebrated from September 10 to September 19 in Maharashtra. Though the government put a lot of restrictions on the celebration, people were still free to go to each other’s houses and even travel out of town. Some experts predicted that the cases would increase once the festival ends. However, till now, there has been no major upsurge in cases. Hence, the buzz is that once the state government realizes that the cases are in control, they’ll allow the theatres to restart by next week or a week later.

On the other hand, the skeptics don’t want to keep any hope. They argue that even in August, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope had assured that the theatres will open soon. But that didn’t happen. In June’s first week, the government introduced a level-based reopening model. As per this strategy, the cities and districts with the least cases were put in Level 1 category and these places were allowed to open theatres. As a result, theatres had opened in Malegaon and Aurangabad. But in 20 days, this level-based formula was thrown out of the window due to fears of the Delta Plus variant. Many were shocked how this level-based model, which seemed very sensible and practical, was abruptly ended within a couple of weeks.

Hence, the government can’t be trusted. There’s a possibility that cinemas might not open in October. The government didn’t give any reason why it didn’t open theatres in September and even the industry got too scared to speak about it openly. Also, in September first week, a newspaper article in The Times Of India had reported that the government is looking at opening drama theatres first, in the first week of November, and then they’ll decide on the theatres and multiplexes! If this is what the government implements, the industry would lose out on the Dussehra holiday (October 15) as well as the Diwali holiday (November 5). This would prove catastrophic and one can only hope that the theatres open as soon as possible.

FLOW OF HINDI RELEASES STOPS ONCE AGAIN; HOLLYWOOD AND REGIONAL CINEMA TO DOMINATE

The Akshay Kumar-starrer Bellbottom was released in cinemas on August 19 and it was the first Hindi film since April 2021 to arrive on the big screen. Its release date was announced when cinemas are opening up in many states. It was assumed that the crucial state of Maharashtra, which contributes 30% of the revenue, would also open up by August 19. Sadly, it didn’t and it affected Bellbottom’s performance. Chehre arrived next, on August 26 and it was also released with the idea that Maharashtra would have opened up by then. Finally came Thalaivii on September 10. Its release was planned at a time when it became clear that Maharashtra is not opening up. Yet, the Kangana Ranaut starrer released since it is also releasing in Tamil version and the state of Tamil Nadu has allowed theatres to resume operation.

Sadly, all three films have flopped at the box office. Bellbottom was expected to collect at least Rs. 50-60 crore but its lifetime will now be around Rs. 30 crore. Chehre won’t be able to even cross the Rs. 5 crore mark while Thalaivii won’t go beyond Rs. 7-8 crore. The word of mouth of all three films was positive but these films were not properly marketed. Also, audiences were not excited to see it.

On the other hand, a Hollywood film, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, had a surprise opening and is about to reach the Rs. 30 crore lifetime. The two Punjabi films, Puaada and Chal Mera Putt 2, have done extraordinary business. However, the industry has chosen to ignore this part. They have focused only on the dismal performance of the three Hindi films and have decided to not release any major film till Maharashtra is open.

As a result, for the next three weeks at least, no significant Hindi film is releasing on the big screen. The Hollywood films and regional films will now dominate cinemas for a while. Tomorrow, three Hollywood films will release – Free Guy, Don’t Breathe 2 and Old. The first two has a slight chance of pulling audiences. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings will continue to dominate the business in the coming week too. The next week will see the release of Qismat 2, the sequel of a super-hit Punjabi film Qismat, and the Hollywood entertainer, Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson. Finally, on September 30, the James Bond film, No Time To Die, will finally arrive in cinemas and its expected to do huge business in India.

Chehre is an interesting thriller that rests on an unconventional plot. The opening song is bizarre but thankfully, the film is engaging from the very start. The characters are introduced very neatly and how the young chap gets conned into playing a dangerous ‘mock trial’ game with the veterans is very convincing. The intermission point is too good and the second half starts off well. But later, it becomes lengthy and also predictable. The 13-minute long monologue of Amitabh Bachchan in the climax is never-ending and goes off track, thus testing the patience of the viewer. It should have been shorter and more powerful like ‘No Means No’ ideally. Speaking of performances, Amitabh Bachchan, as always, is terrific. He has worked hard on the character and it shows. Emraan Hashmi is the scene-stealer. He has given several memorable performances but this is one of his best. In fact, he is the best performer in Chehre! He also looks quite dashing. Annu Kapoor is dependable and brings his touch to the part of the defence counsel. Dhritiman Chatterjee and Raghubir Yadav have minimal dialogues but leave a mark. Krystle Dsouza puts up a confident act. Rhea Chakraborty initially appears a bit caricature but later she proves her worth. Siddhanth Kapoor is fine in a small role. Samir Soni looks dull. All in all, Chehre, despite the minuses, is a good one-time watch, and definitely has the big screen appeal.

My rating - *** out of 5!

BELLBOTTOM FAILS TO SET THE BOX OFFICE ON FIRE; PRESSURE BUILDS ON CHEHRE

The first big Hindi film post pandemic, Bellbottom, finally released in cinemas last week, on Thursday, August 19. The crucial state of Maharashtra has been shut and hence, nobody expected huge numbers. The expectation was that it should open at around Rs. 5 crore. Shockingly, it took an opening of just Rs. 2.75 crore. Friday collections were the same while it collected Rs. 3 crore on Saturday. On Sunday, the film showed growth and earned Rs. 4.50 crore. The Monday collections were around Rs. 1.80 crore. The first week collections are expected to be under Rs. 20 crore and that’s not a good number even for its weekend collections, despite the absence of Maharashtra.

So what went wrong with Bellbottom? When a film is about to be released, the makers first need to create awareness. Viewers need to know that a particular film is releasing, that too in cinemas. And then they need to generate excitement. In the case of Bellbottom, the makers failed on both these fronts. On social media, they made noise but that’s not enough. On ground, many didn’t know Bellbottom is releasing, that too in theatres. A lot of exhibitors and single screen owners confirmed that viewers were unaware of its release on the big screen. Even when it came to creating excitement, the makers didn’t go all the way. The trailer was good but for many, it was not that appealing. Songs help a lot in adding to the buzz. But Bellbottom's songs were forgettable. Akshay’s earlier film in this space, Airlift, had benefited as it had hit songs like ‘Soch Na Sake’ and ‘Dil Cheez Tujhe Dedi’. A hit soundtrack was missing here. Moreover, Akshay Kumar and his team barely did any television show appearances, something that works big time nowadays. They gave minimal interviews.

The underperformance of Bellbottom has given a much needed lesson to the filmmakers. Make sure the awareness of your film reaches to the lowest common denominator and that social media won’t do that for you. Sadly, the fear in the industry is that the debacle of Bellbottom would be used as an excuse by the filmmakers to further opt for the digital route to release their films. They’ll argue that viewers are scared to come to cinemas. They’ll ignore the fact that people are going to overcrowded restaurants and flights, which they wouldn’t have done if they were scared of the virus. The filmmakers will ignore certain trends in Bellbottom’s performance, that it grew well in Gujarat and other cities on Sunday. They’ll also ignore how the Punjabi film Puaada, released a week before Bellbottom, is doing extraordinary business.

Meanwhile, tomorrow, another Hindi film, Chehre, is up for release. It was initially scheduled to release on April 9, 2021 but was postponed due to the second wave. The trade is obviously scared about its fate because this is a much smaller film than Bellbottom. Hence, if Bellbottom couldn’t open well, what can one hope from Chehre? This thriller stars Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi, Annu Kapoor, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Raghubir Yadav and Krystle DSouza. It also stars Rhea Chakraborty but she was shown just for a few seconds in the trailer. She is not giving any interviews as it can go against the film. Shockingly, Emraan has given very few interviews while Amitabh hasn’t till Tuesday August 24. The awareness for Chehre’s release, hence, is negligible. The opening will be less than Rs. 1 crore. One hopes it's around Rs. 50 lakhs as anything less than that would be very disastrous.

APRIL SUDDENLY TURNS DRY; 2 FILMS TO STILL TRY ITS LUCK TOMORROW

Last week, we mentioned that the rising cases of Coronavirus led to the indefinite postponement of the Hindi version of Haathi Mere Saathi. It was scheduled to release on March 26. In the last 8 days, a lot of other films got pushed. Bunty Aur Babli 2, scheduled for April 23 release, has been delayed indefinitely. 2 days back, the makers of Chehre too made it clear that they’d release when the situation would be better. This also became crucial after Maharashtra declared a night curfew, starting as early as 8:00 pm. As a result, the last show in a theatre needs to be held at 5:15 or 5:30 pm.

Interestingly, the last week also saw the release of Godzilla vs. Kong and it did phenomenally well. Our projection went completely wrong – we had predicted a weekend of around Rs. 10 crore. But the film surprisingly opened at a huge Rs. 6.25 crore when it released on Wednesday March 24. It ended up collecting Rs. 32.25 crore in 6 days, including healthy collections on Monday, the day of Holi. These are the best collections for a Hindi and English film since the beginning of a pandemic and ideally, it should have cheered up the trade and industry. However, when one sees the collections minutely, one realizes that a major chunk of the earnings came from the South. The cases in the South are not that high and the cinema business there is more or less normal. An average Hindi film meanwhile does limited business in the South. It relies majorly on West and North to score and these areas were doing poorly since the cases began to increase significantly. The not-so-great performance of Mumbai Saga and Saina also indicated that releasing a Hindi film in this scenario would not be able to fully perform as per its potential.

As of now, now only two major films, Thalaivi on April 23 and Sooryavanshi on April 30, are scheduled for release. However, it is being said that Sooryavanshi is definitely getting postponed as it’s a big film and in such conditions, it’ll prove to be a commercial flop in cinemas.

However, two Hindi films, both small budget ones, will be releasing tomorrow despite the challenges. The first one is Flight. It stars Mohit Chadda, Pavan Malhotra, Zakir Hussain, Viveck Vaswani, Shibani Bedi, Pritam Singh and is directed by Suraj Joshi. The film has an unknown star cast and yet, it has grabbed some eyeballs. This is because it’s trailer is very thrilling. It tells the story of a man trapped in a mid-air flight! Despite the fact that the trailer impressed people, the excitement is obviously minimal. The rising cases will also prove detrimental to an extent. But on the positive side, if it’s a good film, it can grow through positive word of mouth. And it’ll have a long run in cinemas now that hardly any film is releasing.

The other film releasing tomorrow is Koi Jaane Na. It stars Kunal Kapoor and Amyra Dastur and is a suspense saga. It is directed by actor Amin Hajee, of Lagaan fame. The film was shot around 2 years back and is finally seeing the light of the day. This movie features Aamir Khan along with Elli AvrRam in the song ‘Har Funn Maula’. This song has been noticed but many have not been able to realize that it’s a part of the film. Hence, while the song is known, the film is still unknown for most people. Just like Flight, it’ll open to poor houses but might have a chance if public reports are encouraging.