Theatres badly hit by terror attacks

The terror strikes have not just left scores of innocent Mumbaiites and tourists bleeding, but it has also hit the film-makers of the movies that released on Friday. Sorry Bhai, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and Max Payne are staring at huge losses if the city’s cine-goers don’t shed their fear and flock to the theatres.
The films saw a dismal opening (between 5-20 percent) in Mumbai city. Vishal Kapur, COO of Fun Cinemas says, “Friday’s collections were horrible. We had to cancel the morning shows. The afternoon shows of the films just saw around 15 people turning up.
Saturday’s collections have been marginally better, but today does not look very promising. There are hardly any advance bookings. This will be a disastrous weekend for all films. People are nervous and tense about what has happened in Mumbai and this is what is reflecting in our collections.”
Rakesh Sharma, operation head of Cinemax Sion adds, “Though people here need entertainment, they can do without it in such problematic circumstances.”
Cinemax Sion saw the films get an opening of around 20 percent with hardly any advance bookings for the weekend.
The films did not see a release at the Nariman Point INOX as it was shut on Friday due to the terrorist attack in that area.
Film-makers, however, are unperturbed by the figures. “The city is limping back to normalcy; I’m hopeful that these figures will improve,” says Siddharth Roy Kapoor of UTV, producers of Oye lucky Lucky Oye.
He adds, “ We are hoping that from Monday onwards people will go to the theatres in large numbers. We have a few days before Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (a film that stars Shah Rukh Khan and has been directed by Aditya Chopra) releases and we are sure to do good business.”
Meanwhile, Vikramjit Roy— head of promotions of Mumbai Mantra—a company associated with Sorry Bhai says: “People have told us that we are foolish to release the film during such circumstances, but for us releasing the movie was more than just a business decision. Terror strikes can’t slow us down.”