The Coronavirus scare is only making things worse, health-wise as well as economy wise. Due to the rapid increase of positive cases in Maharashtra, the Chief Minister of the state Uddhav Thackeray has announced a weekend lockdown from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday, in order to curb the spread of the virus. With the announcement of weekend lockdown and night curfew, Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif’s Sooryavanshi and Kangana Ranaut’s Thalaivi which were scheduled to release at the end of this month might take a hit at the box-office, if they intend to release as per schedule.
Due to the complete lockdown, the mega films - Thalaivi and Sooryavanshi that are set to release on April 23 and April 30 respectively will be unable to get any footfalls to recover their costs. However, the government has allowed the film and TV units to continue work over the weekend but with only 33 per cent crew members. Speaking on the same, exhibitor Akshay Rathi spoke to Indian Express, “The CM obviously put forth his concerns around the high number of cases that we are witnessing in Maharashtra and this meeting was supposed to happen with various business sectors about the support that the government would require from them in case restrictions and curbs need to be imposed. Of course, we all realise that saving lives is and must be the priority. If it requires sacrifices from us, so be it.”
He added that they have also requested aid for the sector which has suffered during the last year. He further said, “Till now we have not received a penny or one policy-driven decision that has helped us survive over the last year.” Rathi also stated that they have put forth the request for some kind of financial relief and hoped the state government will act upon the same.
Image source: Instagram/ akshaykumar/ kanganaranaut