Coolie No 1 In Theatres?

With the re-opening of theatres proving to be  a damp squib,  movie producers are  now  looking at ways to minimize losses even as  the  theatre revenues are expected  to  dip even further with the  onset of winter in North India.

Sources  close to the Government reveal that  movie theatres my be closed again. On  the  other hand  Bollywood exhibitors and distributors are  seriously contemplating  a shared  release  for  big  films , beginning with David Dhawan’s Christmas  pudding  Coolie No 1.

As per sources the Dhawans’ dhamaka   film may  be released  in both movie theatres and  on the digital platform simultaneously  . However  there is a  question mark on who will get to release  the product first.

Says an  informed source,  “The digital partner insists that Coolie No.1  get to go first on the digital platform whereas  the theatrical platform  is of  the  opinion, and rightly so, that once the   film  is out  on OTT  the incentive to brave it in the theatre would be zero for  the  audience.”

Hopefully the stalemate  would soon be  resolved.

This  could well be the  way forward  for the  imbroglio in the  movie business. With movie theatres in India(barring those  in West Bengal)  showing no signs of re-opening in  the near future , pending  big-budget films  like Rohit Shetty’s  Sooryavanshi  and  Rajamouli’s   RRR are also looking to follow the path of a shared release, since this  seems  to be the  only way forward .

 Shibashish Sarkar, CEO of Reliance Entertainment who have two major potential blockbusters Rohit Shetty’s  Sooryavanshi and  Kabir Khan’s  1983 awaiting  release does see the  wisdom  of a shared  release,

Says  Sarkar, “Yes ,if in a country  where  either that particular OTT platform not available or if theatres chain in such country not objecting to a film releasing in OTT and Theatres in the same time….films can release on both medium. We noticed the same for Mulan , Tenet, Troll World tour….etc etc. However I don’t foresee it as a stable route in normal times. Windowing for different medium is necessary.”