Karan Johar refraining from shooting 'Kurbaan' in Pune is a sign in itself that the Swine Flu scare has finally gripped Bollywood as well. The film industry however has much more to worry about than the well being of their actors as money also needs to be recovered from films that are slated to release.
With Swine flu scare griping most of the metros, the state government is under pressure to keep the number of virus affected patients low. A Mexican pattern of stopping public movement was suggested to the government where in all the hot shot public hubs like malls and multiplexes might be shut down to stop the epidemic from spreading. In such case we asked the trade experts and multiplex officials as to what could be the fate of Kaminey at the box office.
Rekha Bharadwaj, wife of Kaminey’s film director Vishal Bharadwaj said, “The release date of Kaminey is 14th Aug and I don’t think the epidemic scare will affect the film at the Box Office.”
Trade expert Taran Adarsh echoed Rekha’s opinion by saying, “The buzz around Kaminey is tremendous. Even during floods people have gone out to see films and cinema won’t be affected. I don’t know what will be the multiplexes do in case there is a low occupancy later on but the opening of Kaminey would definitely not be affected.
Girish, DGM of Cinemax added, “Our advance booking for Kaminey is starting from Wednesday, Aug 12th and we are expecting a huge response for the film. we launched the songs of Kaminey few days back and considering it’s a Vishal film with Shahid and Priyanka in it the curiosity surrounding the film is huge. We get block bookings from corporates and social groups and for Kaminey the inquiries for the same have already begun. No discussion on shutting down malls and multiplexes has happened as yet, everything depends on the number of accurate Swine Flu affected people.”
Our source from PVR however revealed, “The State Government has passed on an order in Pune to shut down the malls, multiplexes due to Swine Flu so the multiplexes which have properties in Pune like Bog Cinemas, Inox will definitely be at loss and so will the film to a certain extent.
Big pictures’ Sourabh Verma said, “I am not aware of the state government’s order of shutting down malls in Pune but if that’s the case the multiplexes in Pune will definitely be affected as Pune is a rare market where the 9am shows work as well as the 9pm shows, all thanks to the huge student population you have there. I cannot comment on the film’s performance at the Box Office though.”
Tushar Dhingra from Big Cinemas said, “There has been no official notification given to us by state government instructing us to shut down multiplexes in Pune. Pune has definitely been badly hit by the epidemic and in case the condition worsens Kaminey will be washed out in that city, after all life for anyone is more precious than watching a film. In Mumbai however there has been no alarm like situation and there has been no drop in theatre occupancy. The advance bookings for Kaminey will begin soon and we are expecting a good response for the film.”
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