Actor Akshay Kumar is ready to unleash his eagerly anticipated movie, Bellbottom, in theaters. Yet, Maharashtra still hasn’t opened its cinemas- the rest of the country has only been opening theirs recently. This film will test how it does and hope for an increase in business from there. Already, Bellbottom is getting all the hype it needs. When asked about how many jobs were finished during promotion for the film on August 9th, Akshay said This territory can’t be guessed at – that’s something we can’t tell.
Adding with a smile he said God knows what will happen. And although he worries about releasing such a sensitive product into theatres where they don’t know who they’re seeing or talking to while they watch- he also thinks it could make things safer than before because no one would feel threatened or uncomfortable within those four walls.
He acknowledges that Maharashtra does bring in a lot of money but it remains closed. With all this, they’re still planning to release the movie theatrically. Maharashtra has been shut down for some time. 30% of the film’s revenue comes from there alone and with an occupancy rate only at 50%, that means half the other funds will be gone too.
We know we’re risking everything here, but we don’t have many options. And giving an example of how differently things are done outside Mumbai right now, he mentions how earlier this year when his movie released all over North India, he recalls sales were around Rs 11-12 lakh on its opening day. But then from Monday onward it managed to make roughly Rs 35-40 lakh (nearly 7-8 times more). He insists though – these things may not always happen.
Yes, I’m also working. It’s more dangerous than anything; especially for people wearing masks like me- that spit gets on you. He smiles nervously before adding: But yes, we’re putting in the hard work because it has to be done. Opening up about his past hardships, he said,[Even] though there are many risks in this industry and [even] though there is always an awareness around COVID-19 cases within the filmmaking community where they would turn away from my ideas [because] they think that ‘you could die anytime’, [I wanted to work].
If I say no right now- these regular guys would need jobs too. And after COVID-19 started going around a little bit…well, 5 films already done. With 『Bellbottom』 set to release worldwide on August 19th 2021, its director reflects his experiences during his journey through cinemas filled with smoke and blurred boundaries between fiction and reality.
