Blockbuster festive season

Itrsquos finally showtime in Maharashtra after seven months of theatre shutdown On Saturday evening Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that cinemas across the state would reopen from October 22 The decision came in the wake of an exhaustive meeting that was headed by Thackeray The meeting was attended by filmmaker Rohit Shetty PVR Pictures CEO Kamal Gianchandani Inox Leisure Ltd CEO Alok Tandon Carnival Cinemas CEO Kunal Sawhney and Dr Jayantilal Gada of Pen Studios among othersRohit Shetty with Sooryavanshi actor Akshay KumarWith the news a wave of cheer erupted among the exhibitors who have been bleeding dry since the first shutdown in March 2020 Soon Shetty announced that his Akshay Kumarled Sooryavanshi mdash that has been waiting in the wings since early 2020 mdash would finally hit the marquee this Diwali That was cue enough for Bollywood to bring out its big guns Ranveer Singhrsquos sports drama 83 booked the Christmas window while Shahid Kapoor promised to arrive a week later with JerseyAlso Read Sooryavanshi Annaatthe Marvels Eternals The big Diwali box office clash A still from 83Producer Aditya Chopra lined up four releases mdash while Bunty Aur Babli 2 will be a November 19 offering Kumarrsquos Prithviraj locked January 21 followed by Jayeshbhai Jordaar on February 25 and Ranbir Kapoorrsquos Shamshera on March 18 2022 Ahan Shettyrsquos debut vehicle Tadap will be bigscreen bound on December 3 and Kumarrsquos Bachchan Pandey on March 4 2022 Aamir Khanrsquos Laal Singh Chaddha will now be a Valentinersquos Day 2022 fareBunty aur Babli 2 Nov 19Producer Anand Pandit whose Chehre recently had a bigscreen outing despite the shutdown in the Maharashtra circuit is excited about the ldquoblockbuster Diwalirdquo He notes that filmmakers have wisely spaced out the releases so as to not eat into each otherrsquos business ldquoI am glad that the government in its wisdom decided to reopen theatres The industry needs this revival I donrsquot see too many clashes since the industry understands that the return of audiences might be slow and it would be best to avoid a situation where the footfall gets dividedrdquo Pandit will soon lock the release date of Thank God starring Ajay Devgn Sidharth Malhotra and Rakul Preet Singh83 Dec 24On the ground level theatre owners are awaiting the Standard Operating Procedures SOPs from the CMrsquos office But they are relieved that the government finally took action on their multiple appeals to reopen cinemas In their last letter the Multiplex Association of India MAoI had reportedly stated that the exhibition sector lost almost Rs 4800 crore since March 2020Jersey Dec 31Manoj Desai executive director of G7 multiplex and Maratha Mandir says ldquoTheatres may start with 50 per cent occupancy with only fully vaccinated people allowed Few theatres are also considering appealing for the removal of GSTrdquo He adds that ticket prices can be determined once the safety protocols have been announced ldquoItrsquos not the right time to increase the ticket rates because people should be willing to come to theatres in the first placerdquoAlso Read Maharashtra Cinemas theatres to reopen from October 22