Bell Bottom is just two days away from its massive theatrical release. Bell Bottom is scheduled to release on the 19th of August, and fans can’t wait to get back to theatres, that too for an Akshay Kumar movie. A lot has been riding on Bell Bottom and it is releasing in theatres. It is one of the first major Bollywood movies to start the theatrical release season after the second pandemic lockdown. Not only fans, but exhibitors, as well as movie hall owners, are impatiently waiting for the epic Bell Bottom to finally release.
To get the hype up for the movie, advanced ticket bookings for Bell Bottom had been started some time ago on Book My Show, and the results of advanced booking at this point are massive. As per reports, the advance bookings have received a very good response from major cities like Delhi and NCR regions, Kolkata, Hyderabad. Bengaluru and Ahmedabad are also quickly picking up their pace. With such a massive interest in the movie, nationwide, it can be said that the advanced booking has already received a positive response.
As per reports, Bell Bottom has approximately 1000 plus shows in India and it is expected that with more halls opening up and lockdown easing out, it will reach somewhere around 1800-2000 shows nationwide. Kolkata at the moment is the best performing of the lot. The city has contributed to 20 percent of the entire booking for Bell Bottom. After Kolkata, Delhi and NCR regions are the next with 15-16 percent. Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur City are the cities after Delhi and Kolkata that have been performing extremely well. After that comes Ahmedabad, which is making a slow but strong growth. Besides that, we have Punjab and Chandigarh city in the race too.
Punjab and Chandigarh at the moment are quite slow and that is because the Punjabi film “Puaada” has been doing extremely well in the region. But, being an Akshay Kumar movie, Punjab always has been a major success house for the actor’s movies and experts believe, same will be the case with Bell Bottom. It might take some time, but even if the advanced booking is slow, ticket sales are sure to pick up as it releases.
The makers have done a big gamble by sticking to the theatrical release, even when half of the states haven’t eased out the lockdown and curfew. But, looks like the gamble will work out in their favor. It’s one of the first A-Lister movies to release from Bollywood after the pandemic and exhibitors believe, if anyone can pull this off, it will definitely be an Akshay Kumar film. So starting the traditions of going back to theatres for Bollywood movies with Bell Bottom seems like the perfect idea at the moment.
The sales might take some time because even though theatres have opened, people are still reluctant to go outside or be in crowds. Also, Mumbai, the major hub of cinema, might have seen a relaxation in the curfew and lockdown rules, but it still hasn’t opened up everything as of yet.
But now, keeping everything aside, we can rest assured about the fact that with theatres opening up, it definitely is in the right hands with Akshay Kumar’s “Bell Bottom”. Only, time will tell how the movie woos the audience and if it can bring more people back to the halls.