KOCHI: Even as the next major season for Malayalam cinema is around the corner, Mollywood is looking at a loss of nearly Rs 600 crore While several sectors are slowly recovering from the lockdown, the movie industry is unsure when its releases will be up on the big screen.
With thousands depending on the sector and staggering expenditure on maintaining single screens and multiplexes, theatre owners have to spend lakhs of rupees solely for maintaining sound systems and film projectors.
Completed but unreleased movies and those whose shooting and pre-production are halted by the pandemic, have left producers reeling in financial loss. Though smaller movies are looking at OTT platforms, big-budget releases have their eyes only on the mega screen.
Stakeholders had hoped to reopen theatres by Onam to cash in on the festive season. Now, they claim to have lost the most important season that generates profit for Malayalam cinema -- Vishu-Easter, school vacation period, Eid and Onam. Now, theatres eye the end of October.