Trade experts on reopening of theatres

Does It Make Any Sense To Reopen Theatres At This Juncture? Trade Experts Kick In

Taran Adarsh: “It’s important to re-open theatres because, first and foremost, think of the livelihood of those employed in the exhibition sector. Thousands of jobs were at stake due to the closure because of pandemic. Also, there are hundreds of films in various stages of production. A few are ready too. Sure, theatres in Maharashtra are shut, but post 15 Oct 2020, when theatres in several states will reopen, it will the first step towards revival of exhibition sector. To start with, several theatres will screen re-release films, while in West Bengal, a number of new Bengali films are slated for release. Let’s hope for the best.”

Girish Johar: “No new films will be releasing anyway until Maharashtra opens.And afterwards it’s going to take a few weeks to settle down, as audiences will be weary.Need time to win the audiences’ confidence back.Also Maharashtra is the number 1 circuit boxoffice-wise .It has a major share in the overall boxoffice collection.So Maharashtra has to be on board.”

Atul Mohan: “For Hindi films it doesn’t make sense since cinema halls will remain closed in Maharashtra. Give the circumstances regional movies can make the most of it. Maharashtra belt generates maximum business for the Hindi films which maybe around 40% so it’s not viable or great business sense to ignore this market.”

About The Author
Subhash K Jha

Subhash K. Jha is a veteran Indian film critic, journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He is currently film critic with leading daily The Times of India, Firstpost, Deccan chronicle and DNA News, besides TV channels Zee News and News18 India.