The
list
of
big
ticket
films
ready
and
awaiting
release
is
growing
by
the
day
with
theatres
either
closing
down
or
operating
at
50
per
cent
capacity
and
audiences
too
scared
to
venture
into
a
hall
anyway,
dealing
another
blow
to
a
battered
industry
unsteadily
rising
to
its
feet.
SS
Rajamouli's
RRR,
Akshay
Kumar's
Prithviraj,
Shahid
Kapoor
starrer
Jersey,
Prabhas’
Radhe
Shyam
and
Ajith
Kumar's
Tamil
action
drama
Valimai
are
among
the
titles
that
were
supposed
to
release
this
month
and
help
propel
the
Indian
film
industry
to
revival
after
nearly
two
years
of
a
pandemic.
But
the
rise
of
the
highly
transmissible
Covid
variant
Omicron
has
put
paid
to
all
the
plans,
leaving
industry
insiders
in
despair.
No
one
expected
the
scenario
to
become
so
grim
so
soon,
said
Aman
Gill,
the
producer
of
Jersey
who
pushed
the
release
of
his
film
just
three
days
before
its
December
31
date.
The
sharp
spike
in
Covid
cases
has
put
the
industry
back
into
reset
mode,
he
said.
“It
is
just
like
what
we
all
were
doing
before
Diwali
last
year.
Nobody
knows
when
things
will
get
better
and
how
things
will
unfold
in
the
coming
days
and
months,”
Gill
told
PTI.
Trade
analyst
Taran
Adarsh
agreed,
saying
restrictions
in
many
states
and
the
escalating
numbers
may
result
in
no
films
releasing
in
February
as
well.
“It
is
a
wait
and
watch
situation.
As
of
now,
the
release
date
of
the
month
of
January
has
been
reshuffled,
nothing
is
known
about
February
and
March,”
Adarsh
told
PTI.
The
exhibition
sector
was
banking
big
on
2022,
hoping
the
success
of
Akshay
Kumar’s
Sooryavanshi,
which
reportedly
earned
Rs
195
crore
and
Hollywood
superhero
offering
Spider-Man:
No
Way
Home
(Rs
202
crore)
would
continue
in
the
new
year.
But
that
was
not
to
be.
The
increase
in
the
number
of
cases
has
also
led
to
the
closure
of
theatres
in
Delhi
for
the
third
time
since
Covid
in
March
2020.
Shows
are
also
running
at
50
per
cent
capacity
in
states
such
as
Tamil
Nadu
and
Rajasthan.
On
Wednesday,
the
makers
of
multilingual
period
drama
Radhe
Shyam,
starring
Prabhas
and
Pooja
Hegde,
officially
postponed
the
pan
India
release
which
was
scheduled
for
a
January
14
arrival.
Period
action
Telugu
film
Rise
Roar
Revolt
(“RRR”),
fronted
by
south
stars
Ram
Charan
and
N
T
Rama
Rao
Jr,
said
in
a
statement
that
they
had
no
choice
but
to
defer
the
release.
“As
many
Indian
states
are
closing
theatres,
we
are
left
with
no
choice
but
to
ask
you
to
hold
on
to
your
excitement.
We
promise
to
bring
back
the
Glory
of
Indian
Cinema
and
at
the
right
time,
WE
WILL,”
the
makers
of
"RRR" said.
The
decision
to
push
the
release
of
the
film,
for
which
promotions
had
already
begun,
wasn’t
easy,
said
Jayantilal
Gada,
Pen
India
Limited,
CMD
and
presenter
of
the
film.
“The
decision
has
been
taken
after
much
thought
and
consideration.
Looking
at
the
rise
in
cases,
it
is
important
to
save
lives
and
bring
the
situation
under
control,”
Gada,
who
is
also
a
presenter
for
John
Abraham’s
January
release
Attack
and
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali-directed
Gangubai
Kathiawadi,
told
PTI.
The
problems
may
not
end
even
after
the
Covid
graph
comes
down.
“The
aim
is
to
make
sure
that
the
number
of
cases
drops
and
normalcy
should
return
soon
so
that
we
can
kick
start
the
cinema
business
and
movies
can
arrive
in
theatres.
But
then
it
will
definitely
clash
at
the
box
office
too
with
back-to-back
releases,”
Gada
said.
No
new
film
has
been
released
after
December
24
last
year.
According
to
leading
distributor
Akshaye
Rathi,
who
runs
a
chain
of
cinemas
across
Maharashtra,
Madhya
Pradesh
and
Chhattisgarh,
complaining
is
not
an
option.
“We
have
to
take
this
in
our
stride
and
realise
that
there
is
a
wave
that
is
going
to
disrupt
the
business
across
sectors.
"We
are
hoping
the
business
doesn’t
come
to
a
standstill…
To
restart
from
a
completely
shut
scenario
is
extremely
painful
and
financially
exhausting,”
he
added.
The
release
of
some
films,
including
Jersey,
RRR
and
Prithviraj,
were
postponed
in
the
past
too
and
any
further
delay
will
put
a
burden
on
interest
costs,
fear
insiders.
“Everybody
is
losing
money
as
interest
costs
keep
piling
up.
There
is
no
solution.
Some
films
will
wait
for
a
theatrical
release
and
some
won’t,
keeping
their
profit
and
loss
situation
in
mind,”
filmmaker
Gill
said,
adding
that
one
can’t
put
a
number
to
the
losses
as
it
will
be
ascertained
post
the
release.
Terming
the
circumstances
tricky
and
unexpected,
the
Jersey
producer
cited
the
example
of
the
US
and
said
people
there
aren’t
fearful
despite
the
surge
in
COVID-19
cases
as
they
are
"mild"
in
nature.
“In
India,
we
don’t
know
what
the
impact
will
be
and
we
are
being
cautious,”
he
said.
Not
just
producers,
film
distributors
and
exhibitors
too
will
be
incurring
losses.
Raj
Bansal,
a
multiplex
owner
from
Jaipur,
said
the
industry
had
just
been
inching
closer
to
recovery
after
the
huge
losses
it
sustained
in
the
last
year-and-half.
“It
indeed
looked
like
a
good
return
to
normalcy
with
the
business
of
films
like
Sooryavanshi,
Spider-Man…,
Pushpa,
we
felt
we
are
on
the
right
track.
We
were
struggling
to
reach
recovery
mode
and
then
now
losses
will
continue
to
happen,”
he
added.
Amid
the
gloom,
there
is
also
optimism
that
a
turnaround
will
happen
soon.
"The
uncertainty
is
all
around.
Going
by
the
trajectory
of
the
virus
in
South
Africa,
we
have
seen
that
it
settles
quickly.
We
are
hopeful
it
won’t
take
more
than
a
month
or
two
to
settle
the
dust
and
we
can
go
back
to
doing
business
like
before,”
said
distributor
Rathi.
And
the
entire
film
industry
has
its
fingers
crossed
that
this
will
indeed
happen.
On
Friday,
India
added
1,17,100
new
coronavirus
infections,
taking
India's
total
tally
of
Covid
cases
to
3,52,26,386,
according
to
Union
Health
Ministry
data.