Losses mount as film-makers are forced to postpone big releases - yet again

Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chhillar in 'Prithviraj' which was slated for a January 21 release. (Image: screen grab)

This could well have been a game-changer month for Bollywood. Instead, it has turned out to be a damp squib, what with no show of new movies in theatres due to lockdowns and restrictions.

Just when one thought that the film industry will revive after the success of Sooryavanshi, Pushpa: The Rise and Spider-Man: No Way Home, the emergence of the Omicron variant and rising cases of infection have prolonged the wait for bumper business to return at the box office.

While Jersey was pushed ahead from its 31 December release, RRR, Prithviraj, Valimai, Radhe Shyam and Attack were forced to change their plans as well. Had that situation not risen, January 2022 could well have been a trailblazing month for the industry with practically every week bringing a big film with the potential to set the box office on fire.

First and foremost, let's address whether audiences are interested in watching films on the big screen right now. Going by the back-to-back success of Sooryavanshi, Pushpa and Spider-Man: No Way Home, it seems that whether it’s a Hindi, Telugu or English film, there is an audience waiting to see them across all segments. Whether it’s at multiplexes or single screens, class or mass audience or genres, just about everything worked as a distinct case study during the last few weeks.

If there's any doubt around this, we need only cite the audiences continuing to flock to theatres to watch Pushpa and Spider-Man: No Way Home even as Covid cases rises and the films have been in theatres for more than a month. One can only imagine how the situation might have been had there been new movie releases.

Of course, there is also an argument that the quantum of footfalls is still low. But that could be a ‘chicken and egg’ story: If there is new content and there are no restrictions, the psychological barrier will be gone, which will positively impact audience mood and perception.

However, in the absence of these avenues, the movie business is waiting to make a comeback with a vengeance. After all, even with bare minimum expectations coming into play, the combined business of RRR, Prithviraj, Valimai, Radhe Shyam, Attack and Jersey (which released just a day before the New Year started) would have resulted in more than Rs 1,000 crore at the box office in the month of January. After all, just between two blockbuster films Pushpa and Spider-Man: No Way Home, around Rs 450 crore has been generated in four weeks and here we are taking about six anticipated releases.

Nonetheless, the good news is that it won’t be months and months before theatres are allowed to operate again. Unlike in 2020 and 2021 when such restrictions were announced for six-months at a stretch, it is expected that the pandemic situation could be under control by end-January, and by mid-end of February, theatres could begin to operate normally again. Once that happens, these six films would be the first in line to start releasing since their promotion and marketing was already in progress.

Hopefully, with other big releases with join them from March, and the film industry's losses will be compensated in a major way - that is when 2022 will be able to proceed aggressively, with all the more vigour, for Indian cinema.