Covid19 halts pace of India's Bollywood as experts say pandemic is threatening big-ticket projects, putting at risk tens of thousands of jobs
Cameramen work during the launch of the trailer of a Bollywood movie outside a cinema in Mumbai, India, February 20, 2019.
"Making movies has always been a gamble, and now some of us can pack up for the next year," said a film-maker responsible for many successful action movies, on condition of anonymity.Such dim prospects, even after the lockdown is lifted, threaten the box-office takings that make up 60 percent of the industry earnings, spurring producers to say big-budget films and extravagant shoots in foreign locations will be shelved.
"Theatres may not open before mid-June on a pan-India level and normal occupancy may not come back until August," Karan Taurani, an analyst with investment firm Elara Capital, said in a note, adding they may have to slash prices to lure viewers. "It is likely that even after theatres re-open, only smaller films will be released, so that producers get a sense of how many people are coming to them," Shailesh Kapoor, head of agency Ormax, which tracks Bollywood films, told Reuters.
Theatre owners fear that in future they will have to record customers' names and addresses, check temperatures and ensure sanitisation, use of masks, and social distancing, all of which downgrade the audience experience while boosting costs.
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