It was as if the industry was waiting for these bigwigs to take the lead, and then follow suit. The moment it was announced that Maharashtra would be opening cinemas from 22nd October onwards, the first film to be announced was Akshay Kumar starrer Sooryavanshi helmed by Rohit Shetty. However, that was on expected lines and also as a stand-alone blockbuster affair in the making. What had to be seen was which were the production houses that were willing to announce their entire slate of films in 2021 and 2022. After all, this is what would have given the industry good enough confidence that Bollywood indeed meant business.
Well, this is what happened when within a matter of few years, the floodgates opened for the Hindi film industry which had been waiting for 20 months to get back on its feet. First Yash Raj Films announced its slate of four films and then within minutes, Nadiadwala Grandson too let the world know about the release plans of its four movies. While Aditya Chopra is the man behind Prithviraj, Shamshera, Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Bunty aur Babli 2, Sajid Nadiadwala has put his money on Bachchan Pandey, ‘83, Heropanti 2 and Tadap.
What’s common between two of the biggest production houses of the country is that none budged from their ‘theatre first’ stance, despite lucrative offers and mouth watering temptations of digital premium at OTT for their bouquet of films. Be it a superstar driven biggie or a newcomer affair, both YRF and NGE stood in solidarity behind their actors as well as the exhibition and distribution circles, and never even gave a hint of any of their films making their way to the small screen.
It wasn’t easy for any of them. After all, with the budget of their films ranging from 50-200 crores, there is bank interest factor also that needs to be taken into consideration. Any other relatively smaller production house may have felt burdened under the financial pressure. However, being cash rich due to their standing in the industry for decades now and an impeccable success record, it was forward thinking for Aditya Chopra and Sajid Nadiadwala, something that has resulted in a sigh of relief for all those who have been associated with their 8 films collectively.
Well, the floodgates would open in November, and hopefully the content of these films too would be such that there won’t be any looking back.