Since the outbreak of COVID-19, every country went into total lockdown mode and it is no secret how much each industry has suffered loss and is continuing to suffer. The economy is degrading day by day while many are left unemployed. In this heat of situation, Bollywood has incurred a huge amount of loss which is sure to blow your minds as we reveal the numbers as it still continues to go down.
As per exclusive reports of ETimes, few Bollywood distributors, filmmakers and exhibitors has revealed how much they had shed from Match. Exhibitor-distributor Akshay Rathi said to ETimes, “Just the exhibition sector has lost 1500 crore from March end to mid September. The total figure across Bollywood is massive. You have to take the interest rate, salaries being paid, maintenance charges and so many other things into account. Add this to the people who has lost jobs and maybe more will loose even further. And then we have no support from the government. It’s a case of economic pandemic and not just medical pandemic. It’s extremely scary and the government must step in immediately. High taxes are being paid by this industry and the employment created in this industry is huge. Entertainment sector needs to be viewed with priority”. He further added, “Now imagine the reconstruction of the sets that have been razed to the ground. Add that to the cost. The rebuilding may also come with a certain inflation of 10-13 percent. Also add the sanitisation processes that will have to be incurred as and when the shoot starts.So you are looking at a loss that is more than the figure that we have currently at hand”.
Shibasish Sarkar, Reliance Entertainment CEO who is waiting to release 83 and Sooryavanshi told ETimes, “We have been asking the government to give us some grants and salary subsidies. We are hoping that something in some form will come. We have lost too much. Theatres should reopen that will restock our business. Audience have come back to theatres worldwide in countries which reopened there threaters. I think people will come back here too. But again we have lesser screens in India comparatively, so it will take us longer to normalcy. Is their restart going to be the only reason why coronavirus will multiply?”
Whereas, Komal Nahata, trade analyst feel that the loss figure which is being currently stated is far less than the actual number. She also added that many films have bounced to OTT Platforms now.
And finally the calculations of the loss suffered by Bollywood as narrowed down by ETimes are:
Akshayee Rathi: 4,500-5,000 crore
Shibashish Sarkar: 4,500 crore
Komal Nahata: 9,000 crore
