CINEMA, INTERRUPTED

The Indian film industry is bracing itself for a major blow, with cinemas closed, shoots stalled and releases postponed. In a bid to make up some of the losses, producers are now looking to OTT platforms

- SUHANI SINGH

Coolie No.1 Father-son duo of David and Varun Dhawan team up again to remake a 1990s hit, just like with Judwaa 2. But will they get a release slot in 2020?

AIR POLLUTION IS DOWN, the skies are clear and, after a long time, stars are visible in the night sky. The ones we are used to seeing on our big screen, though, are in lockdown. The coronavirus pandemic has spared no one. India’s film industry, worth an estimated Rs 191 billion as per the latest FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment report, has been silent, with all cinema halls shut, shoots called off and all releases postponed indefinitely. The Hindi film industry is estimated to have already suffered box office losses of at least Rs 600 crore since March 15 when cinema halls were asked to down their shutters. A host of big-ticket films lie finished but with no access to audiences. A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the film business and the coming few months pose a new set of challenges for the industry.

Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai For the first time in six years, there will be no Salman Khan movie for Eid. The crew will have to scramble to finish the action drama to ensure he doesn’t break his streak of a release a year since 2014

Unlike Disney which has announced revised release dates for its big-budget Hollywood spectacles—some scheduled for the last quarter of 2020 and others pushed to 2021—film studios in India don’t have any clarity about their 2020 release calendar. For Hindi films, producers of Sooryavanshi (originally to be released on March 27), ’83 (April 10), Gulabo Sitabo (April 17),