In a sector where every weekend matters, it doesn’t require rocket science to realize that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the entertainment industry hard.
With nationwide lockdown being enforced from the last week of March, and cinema halls and multiplexes yet to open, Bollywood has been counting the losses in the first half (H1) of 2020.
Even by a conservative estimate, the industry stands to lose a minimum of ₹1000 crore in the first six months of the year. The comparative figures provide a better perspective. While in 2019, Bollywood had pocketed ₹2,400 crore in the first six months, the collections have been around ₹750 crore over the same period in 2020.
It’s something unprecedented in Bollywood, reports Moneycontrol.com.
The only two major releases this year were Tanhaji and Baaghi 3. Tanhaji bagged around Rs 280 crore, but Tiger Shroff’s Baaghi 3 could manage to collect ₹92 crore as the film was released on March 6. Even the advance bookings for the film were negatively impacted 35 per cent due to the coronavirus scare.
The other releases in 2020 — like Kangana Ranaut’s Panga, Deepika Padukone’s Chhapaak, Sara Ali Khan’s Love Aaj Kal and Ayushmann Khurrana’s Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan — failed to make a mark at the box office.
According to trade experts, Sooryavanshi and Radhe could have added over Rs 200 crore to overall box office collections had they been released in the first half of 2020.
