Imposition of night curfews by some States amidst rising Omicron concerns has not had much impact on the exhibition industry so far with Spider-Man: No Way Home crossing the ₹200-crore-mark in terms of gross box office collections, while 83 and Pushpa: The Rise had a decent run at movie halls over the Christmas weekend.
According to Kamal Gianchandani, President, Multiplex Association of India (MAI), “The last two weeks have been the best for the cinema industry post the pandemic due to good content flow. While 83 is doing well, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Pushpa: The Rise have also continued to do good business in their second weeks.
“While Covid remains the biggest threat, the exhibition industry is following all safety protocols and we are hoping the country does not see a severe wave especially with ramped up vaccinations.”
A senior executive with a multiplex chain said the impact was negligible since night curfews in most States have been imposed only from 11 pm.
Devang Sampat, CEO, Cinepolis India said, “We are seeing good occupancy for 83 and have not seen much impact so far due to the night curfews in some States.”
Ranveer Singh-starrer 83 garnered domestic net box office collections of ₹29.59 crore in the first two days of its release. The movie earned ₹12.64 crore in terms of domestic net box office collections on Friday and saw a spike of 34 per cent pulling in ₹16.95 crore on Saturday.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted that the movie did well at premium multiplexes but the performance in cities and towns beyond metros was “poor” despite the Christmas holiday. “#Bollywood is busy focusing on metro-centric films. We lost out on the rural belt long back. Now, gradually, losing out on Tier-2, Tier-3 cities… Conversely, dubbed #SouthIndian films are targeting metros + non-metros. #Baahubali, #KGF, #PushpaHindi won them over. Wait for #RRR. (sic),” he Tweeted.
Stellar run
While Spider-Man: No Way Home had recorded a gross box office collection of ₹211.43 crore in India by Saturday, Allu Arjun starrer Pushpa: The Rise , which was released on December 17, saw gains due to the Christmas holiday in its second week of its release.