Yesterday, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, announced the shutdown of theatres and schools across the capital city amid the ongoing coronavirus scare. This, undoubtedly, came as a huge shocker for all the moviegoers. Adding onto it, today, the CM of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray has followed the suit and shut down all the theatres, malls, public swimming pools and auditoriums across Maharashtra, till March 31. While this is a good decision for public safety and health, it won’t be very good news for the film industry, especially when a big film like Angrezi Medium has released today and another biggie Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar is slated to release next Friday.
It goes without saying that the box-office of these two films, along with the ones that are already running in the theatres, will go for a toss. We, at SpotboyE, got in touch with trade analyst Girish Johar to know his two cents on the same and he admits that it is indeed a huge loss for Bollywood. Upon being asked if the makers of Angrezi Medium will consider the re-releasing of the film, Girish Said, “It has already been leaked and stuff and honestly, I don’t think they will re-release it.” Talking about its early BO estimates, Girish added, “It had a considerably poor start, mainly because of the coronavirus outbreak.”
The shutting down of theatres across Mumbai will cause a severe loss for the film industry, says Girish. “It’s a big, big, big blow to the industry, the film industry to be specific. Delhi and Mumbai are the two pillars of income for the industry. The Bombay region and Delhi region contribute almost 50% of box-office share. Here, I am only talking about the cities, not the outskirt regions. And with overseas also under a lockdown, I think it’s a major shocker for everyone in the film industry.”
Upon being asked whether the makers of Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar will push the film’s release date (March 20), Girish added, “They may or may not, because there won’t be anything elsewhere to see. Well, if they release, they are sure to suffer a lot of monetary loss.”
He added how the first quarter of 2020 in terms of films has been average, as around Rs 400 cr has already been at loss. So far, only a few films have managed to create havoc at the box-office or recover their budget. Here’s hoping for a better second-half in terms of films!
image source: instagram/arjunkapoor, radhikamadan