(Bombay) Indian cinemas are counting on a series of blockbusters coming out for the holiday season, like the action flick Sooryavanshi in theaters this week, to relaunch their activity damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and distract the public from burgeoning streaming services.
Hindi film Sooryavanshi (The clan of warriors), starring national stars Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh, is the first Bollywood production to hit the big screen in 18 months. Theaters were closed in March 2020, as part of strict containment imposed across the vast territory to fight when the coronavirus pandemic began to rage.
They had benefited from a brief lull in the epidemic before having to close their rooms again last spring when the country was faced with a new wave of contaminations of extreme ferocity.
Revenue down 25%
According to accounting firm EY, India’s media and entertainment industry revenues fell 25% to $ 18.7 billion last year, and most multiplex channels are suffering large losses.
But the sector is counting on a rebound with the reopening of cinemas across the country, especially in Bombay, the capital of Bollywood.
The film’s box office performance Sooryavanshi, in which Akshay Kumar plays a counterterrorism leader striving to prevent an attack in Mumbai, will play an important role as an indicator for the world’s most prolific film market.
“This film is crucial for the film industry,” Rajender Singh Jyala, head of programming for the country’s second cinema network, Inox, told AFP. buzz is also very good ”.
Diwali, the biggest Hindu festival in the country, is currently in full swing in India. It is “a very lucrative period” for the sector, told AFP Akshaye Rathi, distributor of films. “Traditionally, this is the time when the greatest films come out,” he continues.
Among the films showing this week are Eternals, the latest installment in Hollywood’s Marvel franchise, and the drama Annaatthe (Big Brother) with comedian Rajinikanth, Tamil superstar, revered as a deity in the state of Tamil Nadu. On Thursday, in Madurai, his fans sprinkled cow’s milk, as a gesture of respect, on the movie posters where his face appears.
As the industry recovers, PVR, India’s largest multiplex operator, is opening a world-first rooftop open-air drive-in cinema in Mumbai on Friday.
“Huge backlog”
According to Komal Nahta, industry analyst, the industry faces a “huge backlog” of films with production costs estimated at 50 billion rupees ($ 668 million). “At least one major film will be released every week,” he says.
On Christmas Eve, Reliance Entertainment will launch 83, a film recounting India’s first victory in the Cricket World Cup, the country’s king sport, the release of which has been delayed by more than a year.
“In 2019-20, we estimated the box office numbers (at $ 40 million), for the pre-COVID-19 period,” said Shibasish Sarkar, former boss of Reliance Entertainment and current chairman of the Imac group. “For upcoming releases, we hope (and) wish the best,” he adds.
In a country where the cinema occupies a central place in cultural life, the long closure of cinemas due to the pandemic has encouraged the increase in subscriptions to the platforms of streaming.
The American giants Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney’s Hotstar have mainly benefited from the growth of the online audience thanks to the growing popularity of smartphones.
Mr. Jyala d’Inox says he is confident ensuring that the owners of cinemas are not moved by the competition: “people are coming back to the cinemas. […] especially since there are still great films in the pipeline ”.