The cinemas in Maharashtra are set to open in the last week of October and the announcement of release dates flowed pretty much as expected. The exhibitors had expected cinemas in Maharashtra to open in the first week of October but for some reason the state government allowed schools and places of worship to open while holding back cinemas till 22nd October.

This is ridiculous as most cinemas have operating procedures  in accordance to covid rules but this will be hardly there in places of worship. Nevertheless there is an opening date and it gives the industry some clarity and allows films to release. The best news was that the makers of Sooryavanshi decided to come on Diwali as this film would be a different animal on Diwali then on any other date. The trailer of this film released way back in March 2020 so there will be some staleness with a new trailer but that will be compensated by a Diwali release. 

Sooryavanshi on Diwali was the best option to start and that has happened as of now. We say as of now as there is still six weeks left for release and you dont know what is going to happen with covid19 and how state governments are going to react. Maharashtra has been pretty strict with cinemas and as society opens up cases are going to go up as has been seen in the West but they have kept life going on without lockdowns and hopefully its the same way in India.

There will be teething problems when Sooryavanshi releases especially in Maharashtra as many cinemas here will be opening up after 18 months. Also there are many other circuits in the doldrums with less cinemas than before the pandemic and collections just not coming in many areas. This is not going by the quality of the film but comparatively comparing the circuits over the last month or so.

On the other side there will some areas which will be ready to give strong collections on the big Diwali holiday. The last big Diwali release was Housefull 4 in 2019 and maybe in some circuits (if not circuits then some centres) Sooryavanshi can get near the numbers of Housefull 4 or maybe even surpass and if that can happen it would be a great result. To get all circuits going strong will be a process and will take time. This is the difference with Hindi cinema which caters to many circuits rather than one or two. It is easier to get 1 or 2 circuits back that is why we have seen some regional films do well over the last 18 months.

1983 has also got a perfect date with Christmas as that is the sort of film which can best on Christmas. Its not the same as a few years back where you used to get many clear weeks with a Christmas release with makers now aiming for the lucrative New Year release. Still the sort of audience profile 83 will have is a good match with teh Christmas audience.

This film is a so-called pan India film as its releasing in many languages and is clashing with another so-called pan India film Pushpa. This pan India thing has come up now but the fact is very few films have broken the regional divide and that will continue to be case. Pushpa can be pretty much written off in North India despite a good trailer after its song which is typical Telugu but its possible that West India and parts of Central India might give it a chance. It will pretty much ditto for 83 in South India barring the Hindi audience there. It can be a pan India release but a pan India film will be a rarity unless its a Sholay or Bahubali.

Its probably too early to talk about Xmas as you dont know what is going to be the situation in 3 months time so for now its all about Sooryavanshi hitting theatres on Diwali. Hopefully it does well and lockdowns keep away which will in time allow the business to return to normal or near normal levels. If this happens then just maybe we can start thinking records again with the big event films Pathan (Shahrukh Khan) and Tiger (Salman Khan) which will hit screens Diwali 2022 and Xmas 2022 respectively covid permitting.