The summer of 2020 was going to be a rocking season for great movies. Movies that were meant to be watched in the cosy and darkened confines of cinema theatres. Watching movies in the theatres is a magical experience altogether — the dimming of the lights; the gentle hush that falls on the audience, accentuating the darkness; and the shiver of excitement running down your spine as the movie starts playing — an experience we love to relive again and again.
But then an earth-shattering event destroyed our carefully laid plans of enjoying a summer full of fun, films, and fun at the films! The world was in the grip of a once-in-a-hundred-years event —the monstrous Coronavirus pandemic. Without so much as a warning, theatres shut down and the entertainment industry ground to a halt. As for our plans, whoosh – they were gone with the wind!
Forgive us for going all lyrical and waxing eloquent on the movie-going experience, but it is only because we are deeply missing watching movies at the theatres! So many plans and hopes dashed— the summer was to have witnessed some of the biggest releases in a long time.
There was the mouthwatering Sooryavanshi – with the Akshay Kumar – Ajay Devgn – Ranveer Singh troika to appear together in the lavishly mounted Rohit Shetty action blockbuster. It was to release on 24th March. Then there was 83, the rousing retelling of India’s historic maiden victory in the Cricket World Cup in 1983. A delectable ensemble cast, led by Ranveer Singh looking so unbelievably like Kapil Dev, headlined the Kabir Khan film. It was slated for an April 10 release. Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb was to release in April too and we’d planned to watch in the theatres. But it will now release on OTT.
On the Hollywood front, there was Daniel Craig’s final James Bond outing, No Time To Die, slated for an April release, which has now been postponed indefinitely. Christopher Nolan’s thriller TENET, starring Robert Pattinson and John David Washington, scheduled for July, is still hoping for an August release. F9, the next in the Fast And Furious series, was another biggie that got postponed – to next year! Wonder Woman 1984, A Quiet Place II, Mulan, Black Widow, etc. are still hanging in there, waiting to grab release slots as soon as the Covid-19 situation eases off and theatres reopen.
Besides these biggies, there is an entire lineup of delightful smaller movies like Gulabo Sitabo, Dil Bechara, and regional biggies like Penguin, Law, Sufiyum Sujatayum, and more that were to be watched this summer. Most have taken the OTT route – rather than waiting for theatres to reopen, they are skipping theatres to release online on various streaming platforms. And we all know, watching movies on OTT is just not the same experience – how much ever 10 rupee corn we pop at home. Heck, give us our movie-going experience back, and we won’t crib about the pricey popcorn tubs sold in theatres ever again. Errrr…, at least in the near future.
Since summer has just begun in the west, Hollywood still has hopes of salvaging at least some of the lost summer movie season. But for us, in India, we’ll have to bid a tearful farewell to a lost season of great movies and memorable cinema nights.
So, R.I.P. – Summer Movie Season 2020!
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