The absence of reactions, the reviews and popcorn made this Friday resemble no other. Though two Telugu releases were scheduled to coincide with the ‘Chalo Assembly’ call given by Telangana leaders in the city, most of the multiplexes across the city remained closed for public. Further, the announcement of a T-bandh on Saturday is likely to hit the weekend collections of Siddharth starrer Something Something and Saradaga Ammayitho as well as the launch of the latest Superman flick, Man of Steel which was postponed owing to the unrest.
The online bookings for the Hollywood movie stood full for the weekend across Hyderabad despite the call for bandh on Saturday. The manager of Prasad’s Imax, Srikanth says that the online bookings had to be closed in a hurry as the route to the multiplex was barricaded. “We were informed by the police four days ago that the roads near Prasad’s would be barricaded to prevent trouble during ‘Chalo Assembly.’ We had to close advance-bookings for Friday and it disappointed the Superman fans who were hoping to catch the film on Friday night.” Asked about the impact of the traffic restrictions on Friday, he says, “Of course, when the entire area is barricaded we cannot expect people to come out and watch movies. Our multiplex being close to the Assembly had to be extra cautious.” According to him, the losses incurred by not screening Man of Steel on Friday could be about `8 lakh. “There are a couple of Telugu releases too. But, with Telangana bandh on Saturday, business is going to be badly affected,” he adds. Though the situation was more or less the same with multiplexes across the city, many of them refused to comment citing instructions from top management.
It was a slow day for Tollywood distributors and producers as well who were banking on Something Something and the Varun Sandesh-starrer Saradaga Ammayitho which were also released. Refusing to comment on the loss caused due to the march on Friday, president of the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce, Tammareddy Bharadhwaja termed the agitation as something connected to people’s sentiments. “When agitations are going on, we are prepared for losses. But, if it is a good movie, then it will definitely do well,” said the president. He admitted that, Saturday’s T-bandh will have a bigger impact on the industry across the region.
For the regular Hyderabadi though who could make the best of the bandh, it was not an easy day with the barricaded roads and barbed wires in place. “I thought malls and cinemas will not be affected. But, when I reached Hyderabad Central in the morning, there was heavy police deployment outside with the roads barricaded. The mall was open but no one was allowed to go inside,” said Harikrishna, a student of St Mary’s College at Yusufguda.