A TREAT AT THE MOVIES THIS SUMMER

Many much-awaited Hollywood films set to hit the theatres, and give tough competition to Bollywood

Last Friday (March 17), as the Emma Watson and Dan Stevensstarrer Beauty And The Beast hit Indian theatres, it signalled the start of summer season, which typically sees maximum film releases in India. This summer looks to be extra special, as several big Hollywood franchise are set to hit the theatres.

Between April and midJuly, biggies such as Smurfs: The Lost Village, The Fate Of The Furious, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, The Mummy, Cars 3, Transformers: The Last Knight, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and War For The Planet Of The Apes are likely to release. That’s not all. Priyanka Chopra’s Hollywood debut, Baywatch, will also release this June.

This summer will also see three celebrated Hollywood directors – Guy Ritchie, Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan – come out with their next projects – King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Alien: Covenant and Dunkirk, respectively.

Experts call the next few months “exciting”. “Summer is a great period for film business anyway, but Hollywood studios fix their release dates way in advance, so this could well be coincidental that so many of them are releasing. It’s going to be an exciting period for moviegoers,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

During the same period, big Hindi films such as Sarkar 3, Begum Jaan, Noor, Bahubali 2, Half Girlfriend, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Raabta, Tubelight, Munna Michael, Mom, Haseena and Chef will release too. Sachin Tendulkar’s

docu-feature, Sachin – A Billion Dreams will also release on May 26. So, the big question is this: Will Hollywood pose a threat to our very own Bollywood films? “Hollywood does eat into the share of the boxoffice pie... we work in an open market... it’s a reality,” says filmmaker Kabir Khan, who has directed the Salman Khan-starrer Tubelight. Distributor-exhibitor Akshaye Rathi says, “2017 is going to be high on big-ticket franchises and sequels”. He adds, “That’s why most of the upcoming Hollywood biggies are meant for big-screen experiences, so, it’s going to be an exciting few weeks, especially with the constantly growing audiences for Hollywood movies in India.” Interestingly, Adarsh readily admits that the upcoming Hollywood biggies are “surely” going to pose tough competition to Bollywood films. “Over the last few years, the penetration of Hollywood films has become very deep in India. They are no longer limited to only English but local languages such as Hindi, Tamil and Telugu too,” he says. But Rathi feels that if Hollywood biggies bring in audiences to theatres, it’s “great for the overall business and exhibition industry”. “In 52 weeks (in a year), only seven to eight big-ticket Hindi films hit theatres. If a big Hollywood movie is releasing, other medium or smaller Bollywood films can coexist along with them, so, it’s a winwin situation for both,” he says. Filmmaker Kabir Khan, however, adds that it all boils down to the quality of films. He says, “We should be proud that Bollywood is one of the few markets that have stood their ground firmly against Hollywood. So, instead of being afraid, we should amp up our films’ quality and compete, since everyone is free to present their work.”