Can Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham defeat Thanos-like Corona at the box office?
The second wave of the novel coronavirus has poured cold water over Bollywood's big box office plans. But can Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and John Abraham tide us over?
The film industry is in a strange predicament - a karein toh karein kya situation. 2021 brought with it a promise of revival, as it were. Theatres opening up meant movies would release on the big screen once again and not on an OTT platform, which, in turn, would translate to business, perhaps just enough to break even last year's losses. Theatre owners were happy, the audience just wanted to go watch a movie and spend some money on over-priced popcorn and the Akshay Kumars and Salman Khans of Bollywood just wanted to entertain us once again, bade parde par. But then, deja vu!
April 2021 looks exactly like April 2020, if not scarier. Rising Covid-19 numbers are once again deterring movie releases. No, theatres aren't shut. Yet. But who knows? The 2021 movie release calendar was already a bottleneck with too many films eyeing the too few Fridays the year has to offer. Even then, a sort of agreement was reached. We'll release the small-to-medium-range films first to test the water - Indoo Ki Jawaani, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, Ramprasad Ki Tervi, Shakeela made way for Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, Roohi, Mumbai Saga, Saina, and the likes.
And then Covid caught up. Last we heard, the release dates of at least 5 films were pushed, of which 3 are big-ticket flicks, Bunty Aur Babli 2, Chehre and Haathi Mere Saathi, the Hindi version, even as the Tamil and Telugu versions released down South.
#BreakingNews: #BuntyAurBabli2 - which was scheduled to release in *cinemas* on 23 April 2021 - has been postponed... #YRF will announce the new release date later. #SaifAliKhan, #RaniMukerji, #SiddhantChaturvedi #Sharvari pic.twitter.com/nBsSw5swch — taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 25, 2021
So, now what?
MAY MAY BRING A RAY OF HOPE
With the April calendar almost wiped clean after Chehre (April 9) and Bunty Aur Babli 2 (April 23) were postponed, the month of May looks promising, that is, of course, if theatres aren't declared shut (once again) by then. Salman Khan's Radhe is set for an Eid release on May 13, while John Abraham's Satyameva Jayate 2 and Akshay Kumar's Bell Bottom sit on May 14 and May 28, respectively. Yes, there's a clash and potential risk of eating into each other's business. But the question remains if the trio has it in them to get the desired footfall.
Down South, things are quite different. Several big films have opted for a theatrical release, unlike Bollywood, which seem to still continue testing waters. Vijay's Master released as early as January and to 100 per cent theatre occupancy. Ravi Teja's Krack also followed suit. Uppena, though considerably smaller, also had a theatrical release and did well. Nagarjuna's Wild Dog, another huge project, released today, April 2 (Friday) and had the audience thronging the theatres. If things go according to the South calendar, July will see Mahesh Babu's Major on the 2nd, Yash's KGF: Chapter 2 on the 16th and Prabhas's Radhe Shyam on the 30th.
For want of a better word, the future of Bollywood, at least in the year 2021, seems a little bleak, compared to its southern counterparts. And though the shoulders of the stalwarts of the Hindi film industry are perfectly able to carry the weight, it isn't in their hands. In a classic case of man proposes, God disposes, the second wave of the novel coronavirus has poured cold water over Bollywood's plans.
That said, it is only the Salmans, Akshays and Johns who can fight this Thanos-like coronavirus to the end(game) and pull audiences to cinema halls, albeit with necessary precautions. We hope the vaccination drive proves to be Captain Marvel in this story. We will wait for the end-credits to roll.
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