When we all thought that things were returning to normalcy, the third wave of COVID has once again dampened the spirits with big movies like RRR, Prithviraj, and Radhe Shyam being postponed. Apparently, after the second wave, it was Akshay Kumar’s “Bellbottom” that saw a theatrical release.
However, call it the timing of the film’s release or theatres not operating at full capacity, the outcome wasn’t that great for the movie. It was Sooryavanshi, which was released at the right time across theatres and brought immense positivity around. After which, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Pushpa took the box office by storm as well. But all this was short-lived as the new COVID wave has once again resulted in the tightening of rules, with a total shut down of theatres also expected.
The first quarter of 2022 may miss out on an estimated 1000 crores at the box office. Films such as RRR, Radhe Shyam, Prithviraj, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Bachchan Pandey, and Jayeshbhai Jordaar sum up to a business of over 1000 crores, which will now be a huge dent. Not just the first quarter, but even the second quarter releases like Laal Singh Chaddha, KGF-2, Runway 34, Maidaan, and Heropanti-2 may as well reschedule their dates and, for that matter, even move out of the quarter. That’s not all. If things get worse, the box office might as well suffer a dent of 2000 crores in the first two quarters.
