SECOND WAVE OF COVID PUSHES SHOOTS OF MUMBAI AS FILMS PILE UP FOR RELEASE
What lies ahead in 2021: Bollywood stares at release backlog, stale factor and revenue loss
Pandemic related woes don’t seem to end for the film industry as once again it has led to curfews, restrictions, shutdown of cinemas and shoots. Obviously, there’s no clarity on the film releases, even those which are already delayed by a year. “We don’t know how long the situation of curfews and partial lockdowns will continue. We don’t even know if there will be full-blown lockdown. So everything is now on the back-burner,” shares Shibasish Sarkar, Group CEO of Reliance Entertainment, which has films such as Sooryavanshi and ’83.
Noting how the plans for every filmmaker have gone for a toss, Sarkar adds, “This is exactly where we were last year at this time. Bollywood is a ₹18,000 crore industry, and that was until 2019. Last year, the business was wiped off by two third percentage. This year, too, there’s no scope for improvement.” The backlog is a big worry for many, as there’s a massive amount of uncertainty attached to when things will finally resume normalcy. Filmmaker Anand Pandit, who delayed the release of his film Chehre, says, “I understand the backlog will put a major damper; it’s a very tough time for the film industry, but films are least of people’s concerns right now.”
Siddharth Anand Kumar, Vice President, TV & Films, Saregama feels that everyone was getting lulled into a sense of complacency thinking we were going to come back to normal. “Producers who can hold in terms of holding on to their revenue will hold, like we have seen huge films like Sooryavanshi and ’83 hold on for a long time. We had Zombivli releasing on April 30, which is a Marathi film which we pushed it because it has to be watched in theatres,” Kumar explains.
And all this delay means that some of the films have been ready for a year or more, but haven’t made their way to theatres, which is causing the fear that the content is getting stale and might end up looking dated upon its release.
However, Pandit doesn’t see that as a risk. “A film looks dated only when it takes a long time to make a film, like five or seven years. Then the technology, the dialogues and fashion becomes a bit obsolete. But otherwise it doesn’t.”
And now with the prolonged delays, is there still the same level of excitement among the audiences?
Trade expert Komal Nahta, says. “Please don’t be mistaken that the audiences don’t care anymore about theatrical films. They’re worried about their safety, but once they feel safe, cinemas will thrive. People are saying that they are getting to watch films on OTT, so they don’t care but they are wrong. Cinema viewing in theatres is an age old habit. How can that be replaced?”