"Sooryavanshi" (Descendants of the Sun), a
police drama with four of India's top actors, is the first
A-list Bollywood film to premier in theatres since March 2020,
when a strict lockdown forced all venues to close.
Hardly any Bollywood movies have been released in theatres since
then, with many producers preferring to release https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-india-amazon-idUKKBN22R0H9
their films on streaming platforms like Amazon's Prime Video,
Netflix and Disney.
"It was tough to hold out for a theatrical release, but we still
believe that audiences will come back to the theatres,"
Shibasish Sarkar, who was group CEO of producer Reliance
Entertainment during the making of the film, told Reuters.
"There are some films you can't watch at home."
"Sooryavanshi", an action-drama in the Bollywood tradition, with
flashy dance sequences and muscle-bound leading men thwarting
villains, is released on Friday, a day after the Hindu festival
of Diwali, traditionally a big box office day.
Initially due out in March 2020, its release date was pushed
back three times as India grappled with waves of coronavirus
cases and authorities locked down in several parts of the
country, shutting theatres.
India's richest state, Maharashtra, which accounts for more than
30% of box-office revenue, opened cinemas with restrictions only
two weeks ago, as cases fell and vaccinations picked up.
Rajendra Singh Jyala, head of programming for INOX, the
country's second largest multiplex chain, told Reuters he
expected demand to bounce back to pre-COVID levels.
But the firm has consistently reported a net loss since March
2020 and Jyala said another wave of coronavirus infections and
any new lockdowns could seriously hurt the already beleaguered
industry.
"Producers have made money by selling their movies to Amazon and
Netflix but it is the theatre owners that have really suffered,"
said Shailesh Kapoor, of Ormax Media, which tracks films before
and after release.
(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar in Mumbai; Editing by Alasdair
Pal)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content
![](column_spacer.png)
|
|