KOCHI: With the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announcing the closure of theatres in the backdrop of new cases of coronavirus being reported from the state, Mollywood is looking at a loss to the tune of hundreds of crores. However, the movies that will be feeling the heat immediately are the ones running in the theatres.
“Some of the movies, though released a week or two ago, were depending on the coming weeks to earn at least around `1 crore more,” said G Suresh Kumar, former president, Kerala Film Producers Association. According to him, the makers of ‘Forensic’ were expecting to earn another `75 lakh to `1 crore.
“Ayyappanum Koshyum’ would have garnered another `40 lakh,” he said. According to him, the worst hit is ‘Kappela.’
“It was a small budget film but was picking up audience after the initial slag. The film is really a good one and people were coming to know about it very slowly. However, due to corona scare and the government’s directive, the movie will no longer be able to make money it would have if it had run another three weeks,” said Suresh. “Other than the Malayalam movies, Hindi films like the ‘Baaghi 3’ are too running in the theatres at present,” he said.
Though the movie industry considers the months from February to March to be off-season due to examinations, the films used to do decently well, he added. “However, with the theatres being shut down till March 31, theatre owners and filmmakers will suffer serious financial setbacks,” he said.
Even if ‘Kappela’ is re-released after March 31, it will be tough for it to gather the momentum it was garnering since its release, said Suresh. According to him, the two-week quarantine will surely sound the death-knell for the films.“And since there is uncertainty over how long the pandemic will last, the status of the Vishu releases too hangs in balance,” said Suresh.
“Earlier, Vishu was considered to be a good season for movie releases. However, of late, it is becoming more and more obsolete. Also, with Ramadan fast coming in towards the end of April and May, the early half of the year is turning into an off-season like situation,” he said.
According to M C Bobby, general secretary, Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK), the association is not calculating the losses. “This is something that affects the entire state. And since the issue is a very serious one, the government has taken this decision and we will stand by it,” he said.
Bearing loss for the welfare of society
According to M C Bobby, general secretary, Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK), the association is not calculating the losses.
‘Marakkar’ release postponed
To much disappointment of the fans, the release of the Mohanlal-Priyadarshan venture, which is said to be the most expensive Malayalam movie ever made, ‘Marakkar’ has been postponed. Even the fans’ show tickets for more than 100 shows were already sold out for the film which was scheduled to be released on March 26. The film was made at a budget of D100 crore. Earlier, Kerala Film Distributors Association president Siyad Koker had said that movies like ‘Marakkar’ need a worldwide release to retrieve the huge investment. According to him, many theatres in overseas markets, including Dubai, are shutting down their theatres as more and more COVID-19 cases are being reported. ‘Marakkar’ was also expected to hit screens in China - the epicentre of the outbreak.