So, Bollywood had a successful previous year with multiple movies that worked wonders at the box office and the collections too were huge. Although there was just ONE film that crossed the 300 Crore Mark(WAR), the writing was clear on the wall that only content will work and nothing else can draw audience to theaters.
HOPE EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO NORMAL AND THIS PHASE OF ISOLATION GETS OVER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
- The year started with a bang as TANHAJI caused mayhem at the box-office as it fired cylinders left, right and center with collections going way above expectations and hence a fantastic start to the year. But the month of February was a disappointment as Love Aaj Kal bombed at the box-office and SMZS didn't perform as per expectations.
- The month of MARCH started well with Baaghi 3 going good and SOORYAVANSHI as the upcoming release, targeting a minimum of 250 Crores at the ticket windows. April had 83 and May had RADHE and LAXXMI BOMB as big releases, which would have exploded the box-office.
- But all these plans came to halt as CORONA VIRUS started to spread at a faster rate which resulted to lockdown in various states starting from 10th March and the nationwide lockdown was announced on 24th March leading to No Theatrical Revenues at all and hence all the releases being postponed for an indefinite period.
- So for the first time ever, we witnessed a month (APRIL) with zero theatrical revenue and it looks like a quarter (APRIL-JUNE) with zero revenue. Even the First Quarter was down by 90% viz~a~viz First Quarter of 2018 if we talk about Global Box-Office as the pandemic had taken over most of the countries within the first couple of months itself.
- Now, coming to the terms when Corona Virus will be over? What will happen to theaters after this pandemic? Will OTT Platform take over Cinemas after this pandemic gets over? What are the movies that are going to postpone/release in theaters first/release on OTT platforms? Let's talk about these point after point.
- Whenever this pandemic gets over, we won't see the films releasing one after the other as we saw earlier. It is uncertain to even say that we can see films in a theatre in the near future as a common man will practice social distancing and won't go to crowded places if they are properly sanitized.
- Big Films like Sooryavanshi and 83 are ready to release with very less amount of post-production work remaining and their producers have told clearly that they will release their films in theaters first, which means that they will arrive on streaming platforms only 8-10 weeks after their release date.
- Also, small-budget films like Gulaabo Sitabo and Ludo, which are absolutely content-driven and work purely on the basis of word of mouth can release when the theaters open but the priority of the audience will be to go for work and avoid to places which are crowded. Hence, these movies have a very bleak chance of working.
- So, the movies which are going to release in theaters like SOORYAVANSHI, 83 & RADHE(has 8-10 days of shooting left + post-production) should target the last quarter or the next year for their movies to release as it will take a festival release + a big-budget movie with a good star cast, fantastic songs, decent promotion and a good script to work in theaters. Also, it should appeal to all the sections of society and cater to the demand of the audiences that they want entertainment.
- Now, talking about OTT Platforms which are going all guns blazing these days as they are coming out with supremely good content and catering to the needs of the audiences and are the only way we can find entertainment in this period of Quarantine. But it is difficult to digest that they will take over cinema as the primary medium of entertainment for the public and there are many reasons to state the facts.
- Firstly, let's take an example of TANHAJI, which released this year and was a BLOCKBUSTER. For those who have seen the movie in theaters as well as on OTT, there is a big difference in experiencing a film. Tanhaji had so many clap-worthy scenes that it raised goosebumps and the masses had a ball while watching the film. Whereas when you watch it on any other platform, you will still like the film but that adrenaline rush will not be there of what others experienced in theaters.
- Second, the people living in the villages or backward enjoy cinema but can't afford to give 200 bucks/month and are not used to watching movies on various devices. Lastly, there are many who said that cinemas will close after we saw rising demand for Television in our country, the introduction of DVD Players, CD and Cassette System, Mobiles and Laptops and the recent one being Amazon Prime and Netflix in the last two years, but IT IS THE EXPERIENCE THAT MATTERS THE MOST TO THE AUDIENCES AND WILL ALWAYS REMAIN THE #1 PRIORITY ALWAYS.
- Now talking about the movies which were going to release in theatres but it is said that they will sooner or later release on the OTT PLATFORM itself -
- LAXXMI BOMB - Stars Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani in the lead role.
OTT PLATFORM - Disney + Hotstar VIP
Expected Release Date - 2nd Week of June - GUNJAN SAXENA - Stars Jahnvi Kapoor and Pankaj Tripathi in the lead role.
OTT PLATFORM - Netflix
Expected Release Date - Will be revealed shortly. - GULABO SITABO - Amazon Prime Videos
Expected Release Date - Will be revealed shortly. - JHUND - Stars Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role.
OTT PLATFORM - Amazon Prime Videos
Expected Release Date - Will be revealed shortly. - LUDO - Stars Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Sheikh and many more.
OTT PLATFORM -Amazon Prime Videos
Expected Release Date - Will be revealed shortly. - SHAKUNTALA DEVI - Stars Vidya Balan and Sanya Malhotra
OTT PLATFORM - Amazon Prime Videos
Expected Release Date - Will be revealed shortly. - GHOOMKETU - Stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role.
OTT PLATFORM - ZEE5
Expected Release Date - 22 May
- Now, talking about the movies that might get postponed due to their shooting schedules getting postponed or the post-production work is left(Talking about the movies that were scheduled to release in the last quarter of the year) - LAAL SINGH CHADDHA, PRITHVIRAJ, BRAHMASTRA and even RRR. These are some of the most prominent movies that were scheduled to release in the last 3 months of the year but will be postponed most likely.
HOPE EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO NORMAL AND THIS PHASE OF ISOLATION GETS OVER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
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