Akshay Kumar’s spy thriller “Bell Bottom” announced its revised release date recently. The film will release “only in theatres” first, on 19th August. Not only that, Bell Bottom will also release in a 3D version, which will no doubt add to its thrill and excitement. The news brings much hope and happiness to the beleaguered film industry. Bell Bottom will likely prove to be a messiah for the Hindi film industry—a lot of hopes are pinned on the film to revive the trend of watching films in theatres.
Bell Bottom has been ready for release for almost nine months now. The spy thriller is a highly anticipated film amongst the current crop of films ready for release. Its cast, led by Mr Dependable Akshay Kumar, as well as its premise of a fast-paced spy thriller, make it one of the top upcoming films of the year.
That said, the makers of Bell Bottom deserve a huge pat on the back for staying committed to a theatrical release for the film, going against the popular trend of releasing films directly on OTT. Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment and Nikkhil Advani’s Emmay Entertainment are the producers of Bell Bottom. Earlier in the year, when rumours of a direct to digital release for Bell Bottom were swirling on the internet, the makers went on record to tell audiences not to believe in rumours and that they are committed to a theatrical release for Bell Bottom.
And what do you know? They’ve stuck to their commitment, and how! Right through the Covid-19 second wave, another lockdown, shutdown of theatres, much delay in reopening of theatres, rising interest costs on their investments in Bell Bottom, and much more. Even now, it’s troubles are not over yet – theatres in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are still not open.
To top it all, leading deep-pocketed OTT platforms in the country – Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney Plus Hotstar and ZEE5 – have dangled lucrative offers before the producers, to acquire Bell Bottom for a direct to digital release on their platforms.
Kudos to the makers to stand their ground and not give in to the lure of the ready money. It takes guts and gumption to do so in the face of mounting interest and zero cash flow. Other top films such as Radhe, The Tomorrow War, Malik, Soorarai Pottru, Laxmii, Bhuj: The Pride Of India among others, and now Doctor and Shershaah, too, all gave in at some point in their journey towards release, and landed on streaming. But not Bell Bottom.
It’s undoubtedly a difficult time for the entertainment industry, especially the Hindi film industry. Bollywood has borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic like no other film industry has. While regional film industries get ample footfall and make good revenue in their home states, Bollywood films have higher budgets, and need to release in lucrative markets like Mumbai and Delhi to earn a decent ROI.
For example, Master, Uppena, Karnan, Krack, among others, earned well at the box office in states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Not a single Bollywood film, on the other hand, performed well at the box office for the limited time that theatres across India reopened in March.
In view of all of the above, it’s truly commendable that Bell Bottom has stood up to the odds, and stood by its decision to release only in theatres. The film may keep a short theatrical window and release on OTT within a couple of weeks itself. But that’s another story altogether. In the meantime, we wish it all the success at the box office. After all, for the guts it has shown, it deserves all the glory too!
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