Theatres in the country are set to be revived once again after a long hiatus with big-ticket films like Akshay Kumar‘s Sooryavanshi and Rajinikanth‘s Annaatthe. While Kumar’s film is coming to the big screen after getting delayed for almost eighteen months, Annaatthe will be Rajinikanth’s first release in two years.
Along with these, Marvel‘s much-awaited Eternals is dropping this week, too.
While many may see this as three big films clashing at the theatres, speaking to Silverscreen India about it film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi said clashes are “not really a bad thing as long the films that are releasing cater to different audiences.”
“The audience base of Annaatthe (which is releasing in Tamil and Telugu) is very different from that of Sooryavanshi or even Eternals for that matter. This situation should be seen as a celebration of cinema where all kinds of films catering to different audiences are releasing together waiting to welcome audience across the country back at the cinemas,” he said.
“I expect incredible business to happen for all these films coming forth now and people to actually turn up in huge unimaginable numbers, he added.
According to a report in Box Office India, Kumar’s Sooryavanshi is expected to release at least 4,000 screens and the final count could even go up to the 4,500 mark. This would make the film secure a position among the top ten of all time and possibly even in the top five films that secured the most screens. This includes pre-pandemic films like Dabangg 3, Bharat, and Housefull 4.
However, a fixed number of screens for the film is yet to be decided as the makers of the film have not yet settled terms with the national chains and talks are ongoing about the revenue shares. Anupam Reddy, an executive committee member of the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce and owner of Sudha Multiplex in Hyderabad told Silverscreen India, “We are waiting for talks to be finalised with the makers and are hopeful that they will consider and make a decision. The film will surely open in our local theatres.”
Reddy also said that meanwhile Eternals is seeing a good pre-booking trend. “The film will release tomorrow (Friday) and the pre-booking currently is not that great but it is good enough. It will definitely pick up more in the evening and on Friday.”
According to a Box Office India report, the advance bookings for both Sooryavanshi and Eternals at the end of business on Thursday stands neck to neck at around Rs. 2 crore nett though the Hindi film has sold more tickets.
The Tamil version Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe seems to be doing well in Hyderabad, Reddy said. “The Telugu version of the film is seeing some response but the Tamil version’s crowd has been huge. Even on a Thursday, the night shows for the Tamil version is almost full. Compared to that, the Telugu version is seeing really low footfall.
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Apart from Hyderabad, Kerala too is seeing audiences excited for films like Sooryavanshi, Eternals, and Kurup. Talking to Silverscreen India about the slate of upcoming movies, Suresh Shenoy, the owner of Shenoys Theatre in Kochi, said Kumar’s film has seen some exceptional pre-booking trend and audiences are keen to watch Eternals as well. “Although we were very shocked when Mohanlal’s big project Marakkar opted for an OTT release, theatres in Kerala will surely revive because the response in just a few days has been above average. We have Annaatthe, Sooryavanshi, Enemy, and two other small Malayalam films. The response for all has been better than expected.”
Meanwhile, as many as eight States have allowed theatres to operate at full capacity, including Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Gujarat, Delhi NCR, and Uttar Pradesh. Other major States like Maharashtra have 50 % capacity while West Bengal has allowed 70% occupancy.