As per the Maharashtra government’s latest Covid guidelines, there has been a relaxation for restaurants, bars, shops, shopping malls, gymnasiums, yoga centres, salons and spas, which will now be allowed to remain open until 10 pm on all days. However, there seems to be no respite for theatre owners, with movie/drama theatres and multiplexes (independent or part of shopping malls) to remain closed with effect from the 15th of August. The government was forced to ease lockdown restrictions further, due to increasing pressure and demands from retailers, hotel and restaurant owners. It looks like cinema owners may also follow suit and raise a hue and cry in order to be heard.
The new guidelines have posed as a series threat to movie makers who planned to release their movies in theaters this month, the top contender being the Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Bell Bottom‘ that was scheduled for a theatrical release on 19th August. The makers are now in for a rude shock, since they expected theaters to re-open from the 15th of this month. It is now to be seen whether the film releases on the scheduled date or no, since Maharashtra constitutes for nearly 30% of a film’s profits. Postponing the release by a week or two doesn’t seem to be of much use, since it is highly unlikely that theatres will reopen this month at all. The next possible date could be 1st September, once the next review takes place in two weeks. We will now have to wait and see what decision the makers take regarding the film’s release. The Amitabh Bachchan-Emraan Hashmi starrer ‘Chehre’ will also meet with a similar fate, since the release date of the movie had just been finalized for 27th August, earlier this week.
‘Bell Bottom’ was touted to be that big-ticket movie that would revive the business of cinema theatres. In fact, Akshay Kumar’s recent visit to a Delhi movie theatre for the trailer launch of the film was considered a great symbolic gesture, that saw them holding a big key with the words “Unlocking Cinemas!” written over it. It was the perfect strategy to reinstate confidence among movie-goers to head back to theaters.
For the unversed, this espionage thriller directed by Ranjit Tiwari, features Akshay Kumar in the lead as a RAW agent, along with Huma Qureshi, Vaani Kapoor, Lara Dutta and Adil Hussain in pivotal roles. Inspired by true events, the movie is based on the plane hijacks that took India by storm back in the 1980s. This film was the first to start and finish shooting during the pandemic and will be among the first few films to release theatrically post the second wave of Covid. We laud the makers for their patience, since the film has been ready for nine months now! We hope it gets a smooth release and the necessary love it deserves!