Cinema Halls Shut in Delhi As Covid-19 Cases Surge; RRR, Jersey Releases in Trouble?

Delhi government on Tuesday ordered to shut down the cinema halls, theatres, and multiplexes to curb the rise in COVID-19 cases. This comes hours after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that a yellow alert would be implemented in the national capital following its biggest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases in six months on Monday.

“COVID19 restrictions under Yellow alert of Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi: Night curfew 10 pm-5 am, Delhi Metro, restaurants, bars to operate at 50 per cent capacity; Cinema halls, spas, gyms, multiplexes, banquet halls, auditoriums, and sports complexes to be closed with immediate effect,” read the order.

It was only in October that cinema halls, theatres, and multiplexes in the city were allowed to operate at full seating capacity. They were closed in April during the second wave of Covid and were offered partial respite in July when the government allowed them to operate at 50 per cent seating capacity.

The decision to close theatres in Delhi is severely going to affect the box office revenues of the recently released films such as 83, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Pushpa: The Rise – Part I. 83, which garnered largely positive reviews, didn’t manage to rake in a significant collection on its opening weekend. With Delhi theatres shutting down, the film’s business will be drastically affected as it was performing decently well in the national capital. Ranveer Singh-starrer cricket drama ’83’ had made Rs 47 crore at the box office in three days since its release. The Kabir Khan-directorial chronicles the Indian cricket team’s fascinating 1983 World Cup victory.

Shahid Kapoor Starrer Jersey Won’t Release on December 31, New Date to be Announced Later

Meanwhile, Pushpa, which is essentially a Telugu film, has also found appreciation in North India, with collections of its Hindi version holding steadily. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh on Tuesday tweeted that Pushpa (Hindi) remains the first choice of moviegoers among Spider-Man: No Way Home and 83. Its Hindi version has crossed over Rs 39 crore. But this move will definitely hamper the business of Allu Arjun starrer. Similarly, a lion’s share of Spider-Man: No Way Home’s box office collection has been coming from Mumbai and Delhi-UP. The film’s current domestic total stands at Rs 179.37 crore.

On the other hand, the makers of Jersey have already decided to postpone the scheduled release of the film in the wake of the closure of cinema halls in Delhi. Jersey, starring Shahid Kapoor and Mrunal Thakur, was supposed to release in cinemas on December 31.

The other big movie which is likely to get affected by this move is SS Rajamouli’s RRR, which is set to hit the screens on January 7 worldwide, just a week ahead of the Sankranti festival. This is Rajamouli’s first film after his ultra-successful Baahubali series of films, thus the excitement about RRR is high. Though the release date of RRR was announced at a time when the makers possibly thought things would get better, it’s not entirely unexpected that they once again shift the film to another date.

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