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Poor planning of the 2023 Hindi movie release calendar raises concerns; Introspection when?
The year of 2023 has brought with it, a set of challenges. The uneven frequency of film releases is a definite concern that the industry must tackle in order to flourish.
A movie industry requires a good frequency of films through the year, to keep its prospective audience interested. Plain and simply told, the frequency of reasonably sized Hindi film releases in theatres is at an all time low. There used to be a time when movie producers faced a tough time to secure an open run for their film and now, it happens to be that there is no competition for weeks. The condition is alarming as the lack of theatrical releases result in more and more people losing the habit to watch a movie in theatres. All it takes is a few weeks of not watching films in theatres, to lose the germ of watching films on the big screen.
The Release Calendar Of 2023 Is Haywire With Few Weeks Having No Competition And Few Weeks Having Excessive Competition
The first quarter has had a huge blockbuster in the form of Pathaan and there have been a couple of other films that have managed to pull around or over 50 lakh admits to theatres, in the form of Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and Bholaa. Apart from that, it has been quite a lacklustre first three months. The second quarter again has a dearth of film releases. The month of April just has one big Hindi release, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, and the month of May doesn't even have one reasonably sized Hindi film sanctioned to release in theatres. The proper flow of releases should start from June, with Jawan, Adipurush, Maidaan, Satyaprem Ki Katha, Yodha, Dream Girl 2, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and other films releasing in good intervals. Apparently from August, we might start having more than a couple of big films releasing on the very same day as well.
The Real Threat That The Industry Faces Is The Strenghtening Of Digital Platforms
More than a threat from other film industries, the Hindi Film Industry is facing a tough time competing with digital releases. Digital releases are having good frequency to keep viewers invested and engaged. Apart from that, most streamers have successfully roped in a-listers too. When an a-lister is available to viewers at the comfort of their homes, they generally lose the power to pull the very same audience to theatres. Also, the digital content has nothing on the theatrical content. They neither lack the production value, nor are they inferior in terms of story-telling. So it takes more effort than it previously did, to pull in audiences to theatres. The big films that warrant a big screen experience, consume a good chunk of the prospective audience and the relatively smaller films feel the heat.
Do you think it is possible for the Hindi Film Industry to reach pre-covid levels in terms of cumulative footfalls? Also, how can the film industry ensure that there is a good flow of film releases theatrically?
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