While Hollywood is ringing the cash register, Hindi and regional content will help in the revival of box office business.
The proof of this is the collections of the recently released Telugu film Solo Brathuke So Better which is the first big Telugu release after lockdown.
The film which released on December 25 has so far collected around Rs 11 crore.
Compare this with the collections of Wonder Woman 1984 (WW84). The Hollywood venture in four days of its release has collected around Rs 8 crore.
"Solo Brathuke So Better's numbers are very good as the film was released across 400 screens only, as compared to Wonder Woman 1984 which was released across 800 screens in India," said Karan Taurani, Vice President, Elara Capital.
He further said, "We believe that Hindi and regional content, which have a much larger target audience versus English, will be a big driver for box office and footfalls in cinemas. Solo Brathuke So Better's box office success will persuade other regional/Hindi producers to announce release dates for January-March quarter."
One major release that is scheduled for March is Vijay's Master which will release in January. While the Tamil version will release on January 13, the Hindi dubbed version called Vijay The Master will release on January 14. A lot is riding on Master's box office success which is scheduled for the Pongal holiday, which falls on January 14.
"The occupancy cap is likely to increase from 50 percent currently to 75 percent, as a request has been submitted to the Tamil Nadu government for 100 percent occupancy for this film (Master). Good times are ahead of cinemas led by new content offerings," said Taurani.
So far, only two Hollywood ventures Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 have helped exhibitors collect some profits. Small Hindi films such as Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari and Indoo Ki Jawani did weak business at the box office. This is why exhibitors are awaiting the release of big Bollywood films like Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi, Salman Khan's Radhe and Ranveer Singh's 83.
Taurani expects that box office business should start reviving from April onwards, and after the first six months he expects box office to reach 70-80 percent of pre-COVID levels.
