Kaminey Box Office

Kaminey Box Office

The shutdown of theatres has dealt a potential box-office blow to one of the most awaited releases of this year, UTV�s Kaminey. The release, scheduled on Friday, has been postponed in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune, with the swine flu scare having led to a shutdown of theatres from Thursday to Saturday. The release will be on schedule in other Indian cities and in the US, UK and Dubai. There was a strong rumour doing the rounds, initially, that UTV might postpone the film�s release. However, given that the overseas prints had been probably already dispatched, it was not an option. A fresh release date for the affected regions has not been finalised yet, says UTV, which will take a decision once the government allows halls to reopen. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says the blow will be hard. �Mumbai is a huge market for any filmmaker and the box office will miss out on three public holidays � Janmashtami, Independence Day and a Sunday, which is when a chunk of the audience was likely to hit the theatres,� he says. Even if the film had been released, many would have avoided it. Housewife Samira Manchanda, 52, had booked tickets for her entire family but said they decided later to stay away from theatres for a couple of weeks. UTV is hopeful that audiences will return once cinemas re-open but Adarsh is doubtful: �By then the verdict on the movie will be out and even if we presume that the response across the country is positive, chances that the audiences will flock at the halls are little because the fear will still persist.� UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur was still optimistic. �Being a corporate, we are fully insured for the two-day delay we are facing in these markets,� he said. The blow to multiplexes follows losses over the last one-and-a-half years due to 26/11 and then the multiplex-producers standoff. Vishal Kapur, COO, Fun Cinemas, agrees. �The long weekend could have been a good business opportunity but having to shut down will surely affect our revenues, especially since Kaminey releases in all other cities.� How they took itI�m not sure how helpful three days of shutting down will be in curbing swine flu but if we get the order we�ll have no option. We have not yet thought of the consequences and not calculated the lossesDevang SampatCinemax India It doesn�t matter what we lose. It�s the health of our customers that is of prime importance. We are already taking a lot of precautions at all our cinemas. Alok Tandon Safety and health of our guests is our primary concern and we will proactively work with the authorities to contain and prevent further spread of the flu.Tushar Dhingra BIG Cinemas We see very negligible impact on our sales in Mumbai. Mall owners are not taking any chances. We have already advised our workers and security staff to take precautions such as wearing masks and gloves and avoid coming to office if there�re any symptoms of the flu. Big Bazaar has a five-day Mahabachat sale from August 12 and we hope for maximum footfalls next weekends due to a mega sale offerPantaloon Retail (India)

Via. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/kaminey-cant-open-in-city-stares-at-boxoffice-blow/501402/