Will Bollywood film industry bear a massive loss of Rs 800 crores due to coronavirus?
Looking at the current pandemic of coronavirus that has taken over the world, the shooting of all the entertainment products have been suspended till March 31 as decided by Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA), Producers Guild of India and Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) on Sunday. Life has come to a halt as various schools, colleges and theatres in many parts of the nation had been shut down. Sailing in the same boat, the Bollywood industry too has been affected as the already released films are bearing losses on the box office while the release, as well as shooting of the upcoming films, have been postponed.
The box office numbers of Irrfan Khan’s Angrezi Medium and Tiger Shroff’s Baaghi 3 are suffering while the shooting for a lot of projects like as Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, Takht, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Brahmastra have been put on hold. Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Sooryavanshi,' which recently launched its trailer with much fanfare, has pushed the release of the film indefinitely.
Shahid Kapoor's upcoming film 'Jersey' shoot has also been suspended and Yash Raj Film also delayed the release of Dibakar Banerjee-directed 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar.'
If the Mumbai Mirror report is to be believed the industry will have to bear losses close to 800 crores! Yes, that’s the amount at stake for Bollywood. Trade analyst Komal Nahta told the portal, "It’s a loss of Rs 25- 30 crore for the makers of Baaghi 3. Theatres shutting down have also impacted the weekend business of Angrezi Medium. The Hindi film industry stands to lose Rs 800 crore owing to delays in releases and shooting schedules."
Not just the film industry, the TV industry too is worried about the losses. Representatives from various channels said halting shoots was a necessary move and the focus now is to finish shooting with utmost care. "There will be no shooting post March 19. For fictional shows, we always have a bank of episodes ready so that won't be a problem as the shooting is on right now. But a call has to be taken on what happens when the episodes in the bank run out, if the situation remains the same," a source from Colors channel told PTI.
Adding to more, the theatres are enduring misfortunes because of the shutdown and a few team individuals and experts are presently jobless. While Sudhir Mishra has requested for help for spot boys and experts, Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap likewise communicated concern!
Talking about the novel coronavirus, it originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year and has killed over 5,000 people and infected more than 134,000 globally.
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