Cinemas swing between hope and jitters as big releases loom

After a forgettable 2022 that brought barely half the revenues of pre-pandemic years, the Hindi film industry is placing hopes on the first quarter of the New Year, with four big movies lined up for release.

- Lata Jha

Trade experts expect box office revenues in the March quarter to be up 10-15% from a year ago when many theatres remained shut as the third wave of the pandemic swept the country.

Among the big films, Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan leads the race, as it is slated to release later this month, followed by Kartik Aryan's Shehzada, Ajay Devgn's Maidaan and Akshay Kumar-starrer Selfiee. However, several single-screen cinema owners said it would be difficult to continue operations if big Hindi language releases are few and far between, as they will have to increase dependence on Hollywood and regional language content.

In 2022, Hindi film releases made around ₹400 crore in January to March quarter.

"It is clear that the share of Hindi cinema, as far as the overall box office pie goes, has shrunk. Plus, tentpole Hollywood films have now begun targeting our major festive weekends, and there is also competition from regional language content to consider," said film producer, trade and exhibition expert Girish Johar.