Bell Bottom opens in theatres today; exhibitors hope for a return of audiences to cinemas


By Rajesh Ahuja

After a long dry patch at the box office due to closure of cinema halls in the country and lack of new releases following a spread of  Covid, Akshay Kumar Vaani Kapoor starrer Bell Bottom releases in theatres across India today,  hoping to revive the  film business by kickstarting the process of return of audiences to the cinema halls.

The release of Bell Bottom in theatres,  the biggest theatrical release for a Bollywood film in the post pandemic scenario,  is being eagerly awaited by people in the exhibition sector and the film distributors who are hoping that the big starrer will  herald the process of Revival of the film business.


Bell Bottom releases in theatres across India today 





The film business has incurred a heavy loss in the last year and a half due to the closure of cinema halls during the last 17 months,  barring a few Months between October last year and March this year,  a period which saw release of few Bollywood films like Ramprasad Ki Terehvi, Madam Chief Minister,  Shakeel, Roohi, Mumbai Saga,  Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, Saina and Koi Jaane Na albeit to poor box office returns.

Notwithstanding the heightened expectations among the film trade, the fact that theatres in Maharashtra,  a major territory for Hindi films  remain closed due to continued threat of Covid-19 while theatres in the rest of the country open to 50 per cent occupancy means that it will not be business as usual for the Bollywood blockbuster,  whose promos and trailer have  generated tremendous buzz among cinelovers ahead of its release.

Though advance booking for the film opened last week,  the response to it has been quite mixed.

While the advance booking has been encouraging in states like West Bengal,  the advance booking in other places like Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Hyderabad  has been somewhat slow to pick up.

Trade sources,  however said that in many states, Bell Bottom is witnessing a heavy rush in advance booking.

They said that  many  of the shows on the opening day were filled up.in areas like Kolkata and  Indore .

Almost 60 to 65 per cent of tickets for the film on its opening day have been sold out in  these areas.

However,  the overall impact on the theatrical revenue is not expected to be substantial due to all cinemas opening to 50 per cent occupancy .

Bell Bottom, which will release in 2D as well as 3D, will be releasing on 800 to 900 screens across the country,  including 125 screens in Delhi and NCR.

Trade Analysts feel that the box office returns of the film will depend to a large extent on word of mouth publicity for the film,  which is likely to draw audiences to the theatres to watch the film.

Earlier, Punjabi film Puaada, which released in theatres last week,  witnessed an encouraging response from cinelovers. 

Puaada, which brings together the popular pair of Ammy Virk and Sonam Bajwa on the screen for the fourth time,  has created tremendous buzz among cinelovers ahead of its release.

Trade sources said that despite the threat of the Covid pandemic continuing, many shows of the film have been sold in advance.

The coming weeks will also witness the release of another big starrer Chehre,  a psychological thriller featuring superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi in the lead.

Chehre, whose scheduled release in March had to be postponed due to the second wave of COVID-19,  is scheduled to hit theatres on August 27.

An unprecedented surge in covid cases in the country in March  resulted in  makers of mega starrers Haathi Mere Saathi, Bunty Aur Babli2, Chehre, Sooryavanshi and Satyamev Jayate 2 postponing release of these films till a later date.

The Covid situation  adversely impacted the earnings of the films released in theatres during the period,  including Roohi, Mumbai Saga, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar and Saina.

An Espionage thriller,  Bell Bottom is about a officer from the secret service (code named  Bell Bottom) orchestrate an operation to rescue several people held hostage by four terrorists on a flight.

One of the most awaited films this year, Bell Bottom has been directed by Ranjit M Tewari and produced by Pooja Entertainment and Emmay Entertainment.

 Bell Bottom stars Akshay Kumar in the lead with Vaani Kapoor, Lara Dutta and Huma Qureshi in other prominent roles.

The film was earlier scheduled to release on July 27. However,  due to uncertainty on reopening of theatres,  Akshay Kumar announced that the film will release in cinemas on August 19.

Bell Bottom will be the first big starrer to release on the big screen since the shutdown of cinema halls across India due to Covid-19.

The news of the film's theatrical release has cheered the industry as well the audiences.

The trailer has raised the excitement level of the fans many notches higher. The eagerly-awaited spy drama seems all set to revive the fortunes of the film industry and regalvanise big-screen magic!


Watch Bell Bottom trailer

https://youtu.be/A6eZ49O67YQ

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