Omicron shocker for ‘RRR’, ‘Radhe Shyam’

Rajamouli’s RRR has been going strong when it comes to spreading the buzz about the film. Likewise, the makers of Prabhas-starrer Radhe Shyam have just begun to promote their film.

Notably, the Mumbai market is extremely crucial for both these films, as both have a wide release in Hindi too.

But the rising Omicron cases and spike in COVID-19 in Mumbai have prompted the Maharashtra Government to impose a night curfew from 9 pm to 6 am, effective from Christmas. Worse, the theatres will be running at 50% capacity.
Naturally, this has come as a huge blow to these two films. If the current situation prevails, it’s bound to affect the collections of both these biggies.

However, RRR producer DVV Danayya is optimistic given that the theatres in Maharashtra have already been running with 50% capacity; he believes the night curfew will not pose any threat.

“There’s nothing much anyone can do in these situations; let’s hope the situation eases out and normalcy restores,” he comments, before reminding us that the film’s release is still two weeks away from now.

The viral fear

Regardless, the ongoing pandemic had brought the Indian film industry to its knees. With theatres shut for months and now open with 50% occupancy in some states like Maharashtra, there’s a strong prediction that the box-office collections would be definitely affected.

However, trade analyst Taran Adarsh believes it’s too early to predict the box-office impact of night curfews. “Let’s see how things go,” he states.

Added to the night curfews, another problem is the footfalls. Another trade analyst Atul Mohan, who’d spoken to around 20 exhibitors across India after the news broke out about Mumbai night curfews, says all exhibitors admitted that footfalls are usually more for films after 6 pm. Apparently, evening and night shows contribute to more than 50% of a day’s collections.

“With night curfews, the last show would be scheduled around 6:30 pm because we need to give 30 minutes for the audience to go back home. So no shows beyond 6:30 pm would mean a huge drop in the revenues,” explains Atul. He, however, worries that if there’s no control exercise over Omicron, then more states will join in implementing night curfews.

While RRR hits the screens on 7 January, Radhe Shyam will release a week later.