The pandemic’s second wave is still raging across the country. While some areas appear to be on the recovery, others are working hard to get there. After being closed for several months, Indian cinemas gradually began to reopen over the festive season last year. In April of this year, the second wave of the epidemic caused theatres to close their doors once again. Content consumption trends and habits have shifted dramatically in the last year, with most releases limited to digital media. Will people be able to break out this new consumption pattern? What could the traditional film exhibition industry rely on to attract audiences back to theatres?
When we get to the other side, Emraan Hashmi feels it will be tough to pinpoint exactly what will attract audiences to return to theatres. The actor’s picture, Mumbai Saga, was the year’s first big-screen premiere, arriving in March, just as the pandemic’s second wave erupted. “Today, we don’t know exactly what content people would like to consume in theatres,” Emraan says, elaborating on how people become enslaved by their routines and comfort. Small and medium-sized films with great content and huge concepts, if I go strictly by logic, could be watched at home on digital platforms. It’s the experience of watching some films on a big screen with sound effects that often draws people in. This is just a guess, but big-ticket experiences may encourage audiences to return to theatres. The tent-pole films, as we call them… Why would a typical shopper pay money on a ticket to a movie that they can watch at their leisure at home? A huge action or sci-fi film may attract viewers back to the theatres; that’s where I see it going. This assumption could be completely incorrect. We won’t know until normalcy is restored and people begin to leave their homes without fear.”
Hey, my name is Meenakshi Sharma. I am a news writer at Review Minute. I have a keen interest in writing about the latest happenings in the Bollywood world.