Telugu filmdom and Kannada ( KGF2) Pan Indian releases will take a major hit as all major Bollywood releases including Salman's Radhe Your Most Wanted Bhai directed by Prabhu Deva being postponed due to the quick spread of Covid second wave across Maharashatra. The general refrain is that decision will be taken after Holi. Big B - Emraan starrer `Chehere' along with Bunty Aur Babli 2’ and ‘Hathi Mere Sathi’ have also been postponed due to the second wave of Corona.
Radhey trailer released on March 13th was a huge hit and Salman had agreed to exhibitors for release on Eid ( May 13). Now the producers are hoping that the vaccination drive in Maha and Mumbai takes a more faster pace and puts the brakes on the spread. John Abraham Satyamey Jayate is also set for May 13 release. The news that Paresh Rawal and Sunil Gawaskar who had taken the first dose was found positive has not helped matters.
Prabha's Radhe Shyam- Salaar and Allu Arjun's Pushpa from Tollywood will be immediately affected if the current situation continues. Other releases in April are dependent on the AP/TS markets. The CM's of these States have ruled out any total lockdown. Other Tollywood Pan Indian movies can wait till the situation is over, since many of them are yet to finalise the business deals.
KGF2, the Kannada film is complete and the producers are still haggling to get a price bigger than Bahubaali. They might have to wait for more time. Malayalam film Marakkar will have depend on Kerala - South market as well as GCC to get the money if it plans to release in May. Only Tamil film with Pan Indian appeal is Annathe of Rajinikanth. It is scheduled for November release.
Story published on Feb 20 :
Pan Indian films from Tollywood and KGF2 from Sandalwood might have to forgo Maharashtra especially Mumbai territory , few districts like Adilabad in Telangana that border the districts of Maharashtra which are under lock down after COVID 19 cases see a surge. The lockdown in districts that border Telangana would be a major blow to the Telugu Pan Indian release.
With 6000 cases reported yesterday, Maha Govt has said that
if the trend continues, a re-imposition of lock down was inevitable. Maharashtra's
district Yavatmal has its border alongside Telangana's Adilabad which had 507
cases of Covid-19 last week, with a scary 11.4 percent positivity rate. When it
comes to Amravati, the district reported 2,843 cases inside a week, with a
positivity rate of 56.7 percent. It has been said that the new South
African strain of Covid could be responsible for such an infection.
“The northwestern districts of TS may be affected due to the
movement of people near the borders and those travelling to religious places.
It cannot be said how long this transmission will take, but the next three-four
weeks will be crucial. The government must be alert because if this is the
South African strain, it will spread faster,” Dr GVS Murthy, the director of
the Indian Institute of Public Health’s Hyderabad chapter, told the New Indian
Express.
It is also feared that the herd immunity acquired
by the people of Telangana would not last beyond March as the majority of the
infections they had were before September 2020. In our survey, we
found that 75 percent of the people in the three rural districts did not have
antibodies, which is a cause of concern,” Dr Avula Laxmaiah, scientist and head
of Public Health at the National Institute of Nutrition, said. Mumbai
city and surrounding region is the biggest contributor to COVID-19 cases. But
since February 12, Akola city and district and Amravati city and district have
recorded a noticeable spike, reported PTI.
Akola division, including districts of Akola, Amravati and
Yavatmal, registered a sudden spike in cases. On February 12 it had a case
tally of 76,207 but on Friday it increased by 6,697 and climbed to 82,904.
Hindi films will have no choice but postpone release, if lock down comes in Maha. For Telugu films, the fear comes from the Telangana districts along Maha. Lock Down in affected districts would mean loss of revenue for Telugu films. Kerala, due to the COVID cases hovering around 5000 per day, critically acclaimed films like Jai Surya’s Vellam and cyber crime thriller Operation Jawa are not collecting as occupancy rate is less. All eyes are on Maha Govt as to what steps it would take.
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