{"id":1049,"date":"2021-11-05T07:06:34","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T07:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2021-11-05T07:44:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T07:44:10","slug":"indian-cinemas-bet-on-delayed-blockbusters-to-lure-back-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/2021\/11\/05\/indian-cinemas-bet-on-delayed-blockbusters-to-lure-back-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian cinemas bet on delayed blockbusters to lure back crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MUMBAI: Bollywood action flick \u201cSooryavanshi\u201d kicks off a slate of holiday season blockbuster releases today as India\u2019s Covid-battered cinemas try to lure audiences back into cinemas and away from booming online streaming services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cinemas were shuttered back in March last year in a strict lockdown when the pandemic first hit, enjoying a brief reprieve before closing again after a massive virus surge in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ndia\u2019s media and entertainment earnings fell by a quarter to US$18.7 billion (RM78 billion) last year, according to accounting firm EY, and most multiplex chains suffered major losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the industry is anticipating a rebound with cinemas now back in business across the country, most recently in Bollywood capital Mumbai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hindi film \u201cSooryavanshi\u201d, starring top names Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh, is the first marquee Bollywood film to be released on the big screen in 18 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delayed since the start of the pandemic, Kumar stars as an anti-terrorism chief working to stop an attack in Mumbai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its performance at the box office will be seen as a litmus test of whether audiences will flock back to cinemas in the world\u2019s most prolific movie market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis film is very crucial for the film industry,\u201d Rajender Singh Jyala, chief programming officer for the country\u2019s second-largest cinema chain Inox, told AFP. \u201cThe buzz is also very good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rooftop drive-ins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India is currently celebrating Diwali, traditionally what film distributor Akshaye Rathi said was a \u201cvery lucrative time\u201d for the sector when the \u201cbiggest films release\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also debuting this week will be \u201cEternals\u201d, the latest instalment in Hollywood\u2019s Marvel franchise, and the colourful drama \u201cAnnaatthe\u201d featuring Tamil superstar Rajinikanth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fans excited about \u201cAnnaatthe\u201d sprayed milk on posters displaying Rajinikanth\u2019s face in Tamil Nadu\u2019s Madurai city yesterday as a sign of respect for the actor, who inspires an almost god-like adulation in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the industry gets back on its feet, India\u2019s largest multiplex operator PVR is also opening an open-air, rooftop drive-in cinema, pegged as a world first, in Mumbai today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Film trade analyst Komal Nahta said there was a \u201cmassive backlog\u201d of films worth an estimated 50 billion rupees (RM2.8 billion) in production costs. \u201cWe will have at least one major film released every week,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas Eve sees the opening of Reliance Entertainment\u2019s \u201c83\u201d, a sports biopic charting India\u2019s first Cricket World Cup win, also delayed by more than a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a country where going to the movies has long been a central fixture of cultural life, the pandemic\u2019s cinema closures prompted a surge in subscriptions to streaming platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United States giants Netflix, Amazon\u2019s Prime Video and Disney\u2019s Hotstar have rushed to tap into the growth in online audiences as smartphone adoption rises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jyala of Inox said cinema owners were unfazed by the competition. \u201cPeople are coming back to theatres, and there are several more big titles in the pipeline,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MUMBAI: Bollywood action flick \u201cSooryavanshi\u201d kicks off a slate of holiday season blockbuster releases today as India\u2019s Covid-battered cinemas try to lure audiences back into cinemas and away from booming online streaming services. Cinemas were shuttered back in March last year in a strict lockdown when the pandemic first hit, enjoying a brief reprieve before …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[42,43,41],"class_list":["post-1049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-life-style","tag-bollywood","tag-india","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050,"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions\/1050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclekentang.com\/bi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}