Mumbai Saga opened today and is the first film since the reopening of cinemas to get a 2000 screen plus release but it still means a lot of places outsde the big cities remain shut. The film is the biggest film to release since cinemas opened in October and there is some face value with John Abraham and Emraan Hashmi but the problem is an underworld crime film.

This problem becomes huge today as in the history of Hindi cinema these films have only found appreciation in Mumbai circuit and other circuits which have centres of Maharashtra like Nizam nad CP Berar. At the moment Maharashtra is just not good for collections due to the pandemic and this is sure to be reflected in the collections of Mumbai Saga. Mumbai city is okay but the problem starts from Thane and into Maharashtra which is also going to hit collections in Nizam / Andhra and CP Berar.

The industry has expectations due to the face value but realistic opening expectations for this film would have been what Roohi did on Mahashivratri, this film could do on a normal day. Obviously if Maharashtra did not have restrictions then you would expect it to beat Roohi. Now since more restrictions have come into play since the release of Roohi that will be difficult unless Maharashtra springs a surprise. The film has been released despite this situation in Maharashtra and managed to open up  some cinemas which have been closed for a year so which is a plus.

Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar also opened but that was to a limited release of around 375 screens and there is not much to expect here. At present films hitting theatres is good news and you take whatever collections you get. There are restrictions coming almost every day in some city and now the flow of releaseshas started its important to keep it going even though collections depend on the covid19 situation at the time rather than the film.