Published 21:26 IST, May 7th 2020
Indian film industry to suffer losses up to ₹2500 crores owing to COVID-19 lockdown?
A trade analyst says that the coronavirus lockdown could result in losses of over Rs 2500 crore for the film industry, and force top actors to take a pay cut
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic with film shoots stalled and theatres closed, the entertainment industry is likley to suffer huge losses. A report, published by an American media company, has quoted trade analyst Komal Nahta saying that the Coronavirus lockdown is likely to result in a $330 million (Rs 2500 crore) loss for the Indian film industry, and force top actors to take pay-cuts once operations resume.
Bollywood actors to take pay cuts?
In the report, trade analyst Komal Nahta said that even if theatres were to open, they will not operate at capacity, with social distancing norms in place. While giving the example of movie theatres in China, he further added that if a theatre owner is selling tickets based on social distancing, they are reducing the capacity because for every seat they will sell, they have to keep one vacant. Talking about the same, Komal Nahta said that if the capacity of a theatre is 50%, it will not support the huge film budgets.
Later on, the report said that some of the top actors in the industry, such as Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone among many others, can help the industry rake in revenue from audiences around the world. In the report, Nahta stated that with India, the problems will be manifold as revenues generated from overseas releases of big-budget Hindi film forms a huge chunk of the total revenue and with theatres shut across the world, the possibility is bleak. According to the report, top names -- both in front of and behind the camera -- will have to take pay-cuts.
Due to the lockdown, the makers of many anticipated Bollywood films have postponed the release date.
Updated 21:26 IST, May 7th 2020