Jhund, Anek, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2: It’s raining release dates in Bollywood, movie lovers can rejoice

It seems good times are back for the film industry. Soon after the announcement for the reopening of theatres in Delhi, filmmakers started announcing release dates for their movies.

So, the first quarter might have started on a sad note therefore, but February and March promise to make up for it. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says it’s a very exciting phase for the industry, “What theatres need now is content, and it’s coming up, there’s a big film week after week.”

Big ticket projects such as Gangubai Kathiawadi (Feb 25), Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (May 20), Radhe Shyam (March 11), RRR (March 25), Bachahan Pandey (March 18) and Jhund (March 4) are all set to hit the big screen:

But the question is won’t the consumers get confused about which film to spend their hard earned money on, thereby impacting the business of all these releases?

Adarsh adds, “Spider Man No Way Home and Pushpa: The Rise released simultaneously, but both did very well. This goes on to show that the audiences are ready to dig into their pockets, provided the content is good. Let’s not blame the pandemic, or the film.”

Makers meanwhile were sure about waiting for a theatrical release. Nagraj Manjule, director of Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Jhund, says, “We were waiting for the theatres, and wanted the film to release only there. That experience is different, and it’s different on television and OTT. As a filmmaker and as a team, we felt that a film like Jhund people should experience on the big screen. Now that everything is coming back to normal, we all will try for theatres.”

For the theatres, it’s going to be a big stress, to allow how many shows to which film every week. Rajender Jyala, Chief Programming Officer, INOX Leisure, says this is a “good problem” to have.

“February won’t be an issue for us, but March onwards there will be a rush and there will be plenty of problems, but compared to no content, it is a good problem to have. By the time the barrage of releases come in March, all the restrictions will go away hopefully. With 100 percent occupancy, there will be enough screens where two big films can be accommodated on the same Friday,” he says.

Trade expert Atul Mohan says the reason even May release dates are being announced is because there’s no harm. “The makers don’t have anything to lose, they just make announcements, that signals they are blocking that particular date, and if anyone wants to clash, ideally they can plan to avoid it. The first quarter now seems exciting,” he opines.