A lot has changed for the big screen business this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Theatres had to shut shop in March due to the nationwide lockdown for nearly seven months.
Sharing some interesting pre- and post-lockdown trends in the exhibition industry in 2020, BookMyShow noted that cinemas were able to sell 7 lakh tickets so far since October 15 onwards.
While theatres got the go ahead to reopen in October, the struggle continued due to the shortage of content. Bengali film Dracula Sir was the first new movie to release after the lockdown during Dussehra.
While regional players released small to medium size films, the major respite for cinemas came with the release of big Hollywood venture Tenet.
Christopher Nolan's Tenet proves to be a ray of hope for theatres, records strong opening business
Tenet has become the most watched film after the lockdown, having sold 3 lakh tickets so far, according to BookMyShow data.
When it comes to number of theatres that have reopened, not all cinemas have resumed business. Currently, 2,800 screens are operational across India.
Top most watched movies after the lockdown in terms of highest number of tickets sold on BookMyShow include Tenet, Tamil films Biskoth and Irandam Kuththu, Bollywood venture Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari and Bengali film Dracula Sir.
When it comes to markets, cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai saw the highest ticket sales on BookMyShow.
Best of the big screen before lockdown
Before coronavirus spread in India, while business for the big screen was usual, there were some interesting trends in the film space.
According to BookMyShow data, Ajay Devgn became the top performing artiste and his film Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior ranked the highest in terms of number of tickets sold on the platform.
Along with Devgn, the other top performing artistes in the first three months of this year were Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Allu Arjun, and Mahesh Babu.
The other ventures that sold the most tickets this year are Telugu movies like Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo and Sarileru Neekevvaru.
In terms of box office collections, Telugu films grew by 215 percent between January to March this year as compared to the same quarter in 2019, growing the most among regional cinemas.
Unsurprisingly, Sunday evenings were the most preferred and busiest movie show timings as 85 percent tickets were bought by families, according to BookMyShow.
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