Bollywood jittery , is Chennai heading for Lock Down ?

 

Multiplex Association has appealed to the Maha CM to not put in place a total lockdown as it would ruin the entire filmdom across the country. The statement pointed out –“ “An imposition of a second lockdown in Maharashtra will lead to all Hindi films (and many other films in other languages) being postponed, this will create an extremely adverse and hostile situation for cinemas across the nation. To summarise this point, a second lockdown will be extremely detrimental and would lead to severe and irreversible consequences for cinema exhibition sector,”

According Nambi Rajan the owner of Aurora theater in Sion in Mumbai , he opened the hall to screen The Priest of Mammooty as it did well in Kerala. Aurora attracts Keralites and Tamils from nearby areas like Chembur. The response was bad and he decided to shut it down for April. After a long time, Roohi was the first film that brought in audience and followed by Mumbai Saga. All other Hindi films released before were disasters. Now fearing lock down films like Chehre, Bunty Aur Babli 2 and The Black Widow that were scheduled to release in April are now delayed. The post Holi numbers of Covid 19 is not helping either.

In Tamil Nadu, after Master release, no film of any STAR has hit the theaters. Those that did were washouts. The best part is that Godzilla v/s king Kong comes second in collections after Master. Now this Friday, Karthi’s Sulthan is coming and expected to do well. His previous film Kaithi did well. After that is the biggest release post Master- Dhanush’s Karnan scheduled for next week.

As reported in another report earlier by us about threat of lockdown is affecting pan-Indian films produced in South, now Tamil filmdom too is quite jittery. The Andhra- Telangana markets are assured by the CM’s that there will be no lockdown as festival Ugadi is coming next week . Kerala is witnessing a spate of releases in the last two weeks. Only Mammooty’s Priest and One have managed to survive. The number of washouts  are more than the e than those that ran. Puneet Rajkumar’s film released this week is getting bumper response across Karnataka.

Related Post :https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2021/02/pan-indian-telugu-kannada-films-under.html

Theaters to open in October - New conditions revealed

 

From October, the theaters will be given permission to open and curtains to go up. The Central Government after a series of meetings with the stakeholders – multiplex chains and the big production studios of Hollywood  that operate in India and with a few Bollywood- biggies has drawn a blueprint.

In the first round of unlocking of theaters across India, the multiplexes alone will be allowed to open. They will screen only Hollywood films and Bollywood films. They will have to sell  tickets for  only 50 % capacity .. All standard operating procedures for COVID prevention will be followed. Food and drinking water will be sourced through reputed eateries that have a tie-up with food delivery aggregators.  Ticket rates cannot be increased to cover the loss due to less seat capacity.

Reason for Hollywood and Bollywood films given permission is that the first category is not a big puller at box office and hence crowds coming in huge numbers are not going to take place. Second category is the Hindi films. There is no Star film awaiting release and only small independent production houses are having films to release.

This phase will have a shift in November. All single screen ones whose owners that have deep pockets in the rural and semi urban areas will open. These too would follow 50% capacity and COVID SOP procedures. This would bring in regional films in large numbers to the screens. The December unlocking is to do away with cap on seating capacity and follow only SOP procedures. This however has a rider. If any rise of outbreak of Covid takes place and origin is a movie theater, the seating cap will be back or shift to total lockdown of movie halls. State Governments will take a call on bringing back lockdown of theaters.

The Dusshera season and puja holidays will be the first chance for movie halls to put things in order. In November, if nothing happens that point fingers to movie halls, then Deepavali will see the regional biggies back on screens.  By Christmas – New Year, it should be business as usual. Movie lovers should now hope that it is not subjected to any fresh `Act of God” .

Critically Covid struck SPB and son Charan together in a song to release on Aug 15th

Tommorow ( Aug 15th) will see the release of song in which  SPB, who is battling Covid in a hospital along with son  SPB Charan have sung along with the 65 singers who have lend their voices to the all time hit Thamizha Thamizha composed by A R Rahman as part of the move to generate funds to support the singers and musicians of the musical fraternity in distress during the pandemic. A R Rahman, Mohanlal, KGF Yash will release the song at 11 AM.

Earlier in a video, he had revealed that he had fever, a cold and chest congestion, and wanted to get tested for the disease. The reports were positive, and doctors recommended him to follow home quarantine. Instead of going back home, he admitted himself to the hospital, keeping in mind the safety of his family members. To Bollywood buffs, he is known for his evergreen songs in films like "Ek Duuje Ke Liye", "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Humn Aapke Hain Koun..!" and "Hum Saath-Saath Hain".

United Singers Charitable Trust (USCT), a non-profit organisation founded by revered playback singer Mr. Srinivas along with Mr. Unnikrishnan, Mrs. Sujatha Mohan, Mr. Rahul Nambiar and Mr. Ranjith Govind on board as trustees, with the motive to generate funds to support the singers and musicians of the musical fraternity in distress during the pandemic. The song is a reprise of an AR Rahman classic, which stands for unity in times of difficulty. This version of the song has 65 singers coming together and performing in five languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. The song was completely recorded and produced by the singers from their respective homes during the total lockdown.

“Together As One” song was curated by Mr. Srinivas along with Mr. Rahul Nambiar and Mr. Aalaap Raju, mixed and mastered by Ishit Kuberkar. The video is compiled by Litbox Media Factory and the release is administered and managed by Silver Tree Talent Management.
USCT is next planning for a global concert in September to raise funds from all across the globe for the same cause.

சண்டியர்™ツ☞

@Madura_Maya07

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2h

SPB gives a big thumbs up !!!

He is stable and doing well says his son SP Charan !!

#SPbalasubrahmanyam

Shekhar Kapur

@shekharkapur

Praying for the great singer #SPBalasubrahmanyam on a ventilator with #Covid_19 @arrahman

A.R.Rahman

@arrahman

I request all the music fans to pray for this legend along with me ..#SPBalasubrahmanyam ..he has given us so much joy with his amazing voice! https://twitter.com/thequint/status/1294238877285113856

Hollywood makes fun of Thalaivar- Amazon rift with Suriya - NASA names STAR after Hansika- Meera backed by B'Town director ?

Did American band make fun of Thalaiva ? Suriya and Amazon Prime part ways? NASA named a celestial Star after Hansika Motwani? Meera Mitun has the backing of a maverick director? These questions were raised by many of the netizens today. The answers. Black Eyed Peas the American band in a music video `Action’ features scenes from films like Rajinikanth’s Enthiran, Vishal’s Aambala, Ajay Devgn’s Singham, among others. The action scenes are identical to the original, except for the faces of the actors, upon which Black Eyed Peas member’s will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo have superimposed their own faces through deep fake technology. Scenes from the Swedish movie Kopps and Maryada Ramanna also appear in Action’s music video. Now Thalaivar, who is completing 45 years in Cinema on August 15th and basking in the praises flowing from his colleagues finds that his fans are unhappy with this music video. Fans say that it actually makes fun of the action scenes in Enthiran ( Robot). The makers wrote, “Check out our video for #ACTION inspired by #BOLLYWOOD…ive always loved music from india…#Elephunk and #MonkeyBusiness were inspired by Indian Culture…thank you india for your vibrancy and contribution to the world…” Music Maestro AR Rahman approved of the music video and quote-tweeted will.i.am’s tweet, “The borders are blurring through art! #tamilcinema @directorshankar #rajnikant #india.” Watching the video the fans do have a point. When the Common DP is making waves, the timing of the music video seems ill-timed. 

Now Suriya’s 2D Ent was the first to let Amazon Prime have a premiere release of their film Ponmaghal vandhal. He is to act in a web series helmed by Mani Rathnam for the same company. Now what went wrong? Why was 24 pulled out by the OTT?. Nothing to worry. Viewers said that audio quality is bad and it will be back with a bang soon says Amazon. 

No NASA did not name any celestial star after actress Hansika Motwani. A few friends paid the amount to the website https://www.star-registration.com/. In case you want to gift a STAR, pls visit the website. They give you a certificate that has a lifetime validity. So Hansika at 29 years need not worry about stardom. To further clear the query- Hansika never mentioned about NASA. It was an overzealous web portal. 

Yes, Meera Mitun announced that she is launching her production company in Delhi on Ganesh Chatuthurthi day She thanked her politicians-financier friends. Bhartiraaja who is to head the active producer’s council has warned Meera not to cross the line in her attacks on Stars. She called wives of Suriya and Vijay as woman with bad past. Her ex manager alleges that a big director in Mumbai is sponsoring her attacks on Kollywood. Talking about NASA, my astrologer says it has rearranged positions. Now my astrological planet sign has changed and should follow new sign. That is why I missed the prediction of COVID 19.

A theater owner reveals the scenario if the curtains are up before Corona goes away

My friend, an owner of a standalone theater in the suburbs of Chennai conducted a mock drill to see what problems he would face when public are allowed to come in after going through all procedures spelt out by IMCR and WHO. The following lessons that he learnt are – It takes 30 minutes for 300 persons (50% of the total capacity is only allowed)  to be screened and sanitized  to enable them to see the show. If more than 50 % of them came in just 15 minutes before the show?.  Giving out pre-ordered snacks to ticket holders in the short time before the show started and that too without a mix-up is another hassle. All this with security guys ensuring that the patrons maintained a safe distance to get the parcels.

Should the patrons come with masks or should it be given by the theater? If so who pays for it as one cannot give away some masks that are available off the handcarts. Who pays for the sanitizers? Those taking temp readings should be wearing PPE kits that have to be changed every day. More expenses.

Inside the auditorium, the ushers have to ensure that there was a seat gap between two. Doors should be kept open or shut and AC kept on? If it were kept open, then huge pedestal fans and wall mounted fans are  needed and the whirring sound cannot be silenced. The next best option is for the theater to leave the AC on for some time before the crowd came in. Once again the staff has to see that the pre-ordered snacks through apps are delivered to the patrons at the seat during interval.

Extra personnel with PPE kits and machines to spray the rest rooms and inside the auditorium after the show are needed. A continuous vigil is needed inside the theater to see that social distancing is kept. If the middle seat is removed for now and later the Govt says it is ok (as in case of airlines) it will have to be refitted and the seats are not any local make for an ordinary carpenter to do it.

The theater made money out of its own popcorn brand and beverages sold without MRP. Now the food app guys have to agree to deliver the stuff at theater rates. Next option is allow parcels from counters. The question is will public obey the idea to come early for a show, like a check in time for flights? If they come late, can they be denied entry?

Coming to business point. With 50% occupancy, a theater- distributor will need at least 50 days to make profits. By this 50 days. Online pirated movies will come and so also HD quality DVD.  The results of theater  owner talk with public is that except for a small 10% , no one will come to see a re-run or of a non star film when the curtains lift up gain as they feel that they have go through lot of inconvenience and risks ( they say seeing films in theater is a risk). Only a star studded film can bring life back to theaters is the consensus. Most of the patrons   have taken to viewing films on OTT from the comfort of their homes and though they are not pleased with the OTT releases like Ponmagal Vandhal and Penguin, other language films, especially the Malayalam and Hindi films have caught their fancy. Many of them have even been hooked to web series.

As my friend says that it is better to wait till the epidemic is over. He points out that Suriya’s SP is the only film as of now that is ready and can bring public to take a look or take a risk. But after that? Even Hollywood films are coming out only in November and many theaters in USA are still shut , even after getting a green signal, as they can’t find people to come in to see re-runs or those that were yanked off due to lockdown. They are giving the summer a miss.

P S : The pix used is only for illustrative purpose. Nazar, Giri (artist manager), director Rasi Alagappan were in Trivandrum and wanted to see Jallikattu film ( Malayalam). Anand ( Thiruda Thiruda) who shifted base to Trivandrum took them to New Theater. They were told that as only a handful had come, the show was cancelled. Anand paid for 26 seats (cutoff limit) and saw the film.