Theatres are back in business, and how. When the pandemic struck in March last year, theatres had to close for a prolonged period. Intermittently, there were attempts at a revival. But in large parts of the country, this didn't quite work. Regionally, a few films did succeed this year, starting with Master.
Later, once the second wave of Covid started easing in India, Punjabi films started doing well. Hollywood also played a role in reviving theatres to an extent. As for Bollywood, the only theatrical success was Roohi and later even Bell Bottom tried to bring in some numbers.
However, the need of the hour was for films to succeed not just in pockets or intermittently. A revival in the true sense - big, spread out and complete, such that all debate around whether audiences would indeed return to theatres would end once for and all - might now be in the offing.
The government was approached to allow reopening of theatres. Promises were made to adhere to the SOPs. Audiences had to be enlightened that theatres were safe to visit. Hardcore movie buffs had to be reminded that to watch a movie with hundreds of other patrons carried a charm of its own. Filmmakers themselves had to start regaining confidence in their own products that theatrical viewing is there to stay and there was no need to sell off their well made films in haste to the OTTs.
The ones which took the lead? Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi and Rajinikanth's Annaatthe.
Both are out and out commercial films. Both feature superstars who have a loyal fan following. Both are big budget, and have huge scale. Both are made by reputed directors. Both were always meant to be big screen entertainers. Both were set as 'seeti maar' affairs. Both were sure that there won't be any compromise whatsoever in their eventual reach to the audiences. Both films played a gamble where 'the winner takes all'.
Between Sooryavanshi, Annaathhe and other films running currently, theatres have raked in over Rs200 crore, hence making it one of the best ever for theatres, be it pre-pandemic or post-pandemic.
While Annaatthe on Thursday and enjoyed a four-day weekend, Sooryavanshi saw a conventional Friday release post-Diwali. The former has netted close to Rs85 crore already with the majority of the money coming in from Tamil Nadu. The latter has set a new record, with Rs77.08 crore coming in over three days.
The others joined the party as well. Hollywood release Eternals has turned out to be the biggest Hollywood film of 2021, surpassing the entire first week numbers of the best so far (No Time To Die and Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, both of which collected around Rs15-16 crore each) in a matter of just three days. As things stand, the film has collected Rs19.15 crore in its opening weekend.
Then there is new Punjabi release Paani Ch Madhaani with Gippy Grewal and Neeru Bajwa which has continued to keep theatres engaged in Punjab and parts of Delhi NCR. Moreover, there are other holdover releases in Punjabi as well as Tamil and Telugu which collected as well in the weekend gone by, hence contributing around Rs20 crore collectively.
Box office collections over Diwali weekend
Sooryavanshi - Rs77.08 crore (3 days)
Annaatthe - Rs85 crore (approx.) (4 days)
Eternals - Rs19.15 crore (3 days)
Paani Ch Madhaani, other new and holdover regional films - Rs20 crore+ (3 days)
Total: Rs200 crore+
Also read: Diwali lights up India box office but did advance booking delay impact Sooryavanshi collections?
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