Pune/Mumbai: After 34 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID 19), Bollywood has started feeling the effect of the outbreak. The makers of Irrfan Khan-starrer Angrezi Medium and Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif-starrer Sooryavanshi are contemplating postponing the movies’ release date. The organisers of International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Award function have postponed the event, scheduled for March 21 in Madhya Pradesh.
Sources from the industry confirmed that producers of both the movies had a meeting on Friday night to decide whether it will be a wise decision to release the films as per schedule.
“They are waiting to see how Baaghi 3, which released on March 6 performs over the weekend. If the performance is below average, they might decide on postponing the films,” said a trade analyst.
According to Trade Expert Komal Nahta, ‘It’s a wait and watch game for the makers of both the films. “By Sunday night or Monday morning, they will get a clear picture. Because of the fear around the virus, people are scared to watch films in the theatres.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan said that Baaghi 3 was expected to earn around Rs 28 crore on its first day but the film has earned around Rs 16 crore. “Both Angrezi Medium and Sooryavanshi are being promoted accordingly,” said Mohan.
If both the films are postponed, it would affect the first quarter of Bollywood. Compared to 2019, Bollywood hasn’t performed well in the first quarter. Mohan said, “Ajay Devgn’s Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is the only film which has performed well. Rest of the releases including Jawaani Jaaneman, Love Ajj Kal, Chhapaak, Bhoot, Shubh Mangal Zyaada Savdhaan have done below-average business.”
He compared the figures with last year’s’ releases. “Last year, because of films like Total Dhamal (Rs 150 crore), Gully Boy (Rs 130 crore), Badla (Rs 80 crore), Luka Chuppi (Rs 90 crore), Kesari (Rs 150 crore), the first quarter was considered successful. But we haven’t seen such numbers this year,” added Mohan.
Tough time for Bollywood
“This is turning out to be one of the worst quarters since last two years as Hindi Box Office is slated to grow mere 1%YoY to Rs 1,195 crore due to a below-par performance by recent releases. We believe this will translate into flattish box office revenue growth for Q4FY20 based on Hindi content alone. The number in this quarter will further face a downward revision if the other releases like Angrezi Medium and Sooryavanshi were to get postponed,” said Karan Taurani of Elara Capital. Taurani further added that this will lead to clash to big releases in the latter part of the year.
