The month of April is being very cold for Bollywood. Many big budget films were released in theatres, but not a single one is running. ‘Shaitan’ was released last month on March 8. The film made bumper earnings, but all the films released after this had a break in their earnings. As if someone has blown the mantra. The films being released in theaters are falling flat. ‘Maidan’ and ‘Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan’, released on the occasion of Eid, have become disasters in the beginning of the year. Both were big budget films and have not been able to recover their costs till now. Their shows are going empty. ‘Crew’, ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’, ‘LSD2’, ‘Margao Express’ and ‘Do Aur Do Pyaar’ are also in bad condition. The situation is such that not even a fly is flying into the theaters to watch them.
harsh in the month of april
There are seven films in theaters in the month of April, but not even one made bumper earnings. Clearly this month is proving to be bad for the cinema biz. The situation has become such that some theaters are locked, while others are busy running movies somehow. They are now selling tickets at lowest prices. At the same time, many film makers are also bringing many offers to run their films. At some places tickets are available on Buy One Gate One and at other places tickets are available for just Rs 100. Both ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ and ‘Maidan’ are giving one free ticket each. In some cinema halls, tickets are being sold for only thirty and fifty rupees and even then the shows are going empty.
Movie tickets are being sold at throwaway prices
For example, ticket prices at ‘Rajiv Cinema’ in Agra have been reduced to Rs 30 and Rs 50. At just this price you can watch Siddharth Malhotra’s film ‘Yodha’. Even after this the shows remain empty. The situation is similar in ‘Rupvani’ cinema in Purnia, Bihar. Due to lack of audience, Mumbai’s 800-seat Galaxy Theater has been locked for a few days. It is also known as ‘Gaiety-Galaxy’. It has been closed since April 19. The last show running in it was ‘Maidan’. It is being claimed in many reports that no big film is going to be released in view of the Lok Sabha elections. In such a situation, operators are planning to keep some halls of cinema halls completely closed.
Tickets are being sold for 30 and 50 rupees.
There is hope from these films
So far this year, only three Hindi films have crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in terms of earnings. These include ‘Shaitan’, ‘Fighter’ and ‘Hanuman’. ‘Shaitan’ is the only superhit film of this year. Now, next big budget films like ‘Baby John’, ‘Kalki 2898AD’ and ‘Pushpa 2’ will be released in theatres. Makers and theater operators have high hopes from these. Last year was also a lackluster affair, only Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Jawaan’, ‘Pathan’ and ‘Dinky’ made big profits. Apart from this, ‘Animal’ coin was struck at the end of the year. Apart from this, ‘The Kerala Story’ and ’12th Fail’ were the only small budget films.
OTT is overshadowing theatres.
Talking about OTT, films and web series are being watched a lot here. There are many films which are running on OTT after failing in theatres. Recently released ‘Chamkila’, ‘Maamla Legal Hai’, ‘The Great Indian Kapil Show’ and ‘The Article 370’ are popular. If we look at it, those films which are made in small budget and are doing wonders on OTT are profitable. In such a situation, the popularity of OTT has increased a lot in the past few days. After the end of Covid, people thought that theaters would reopen, but we have to admit that OTT has made such a hold on the hearts and minds of the audience amid the lockdown that people have started waiting for a long time to watch movies here. The dominance of OTT compared to theater can be clearly seen
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