COVID 19 effect: Bollywood box office takes a hard hit

Mumbai, March 13 (IANS) Upcoming films have been indefinitely postponed owing to cinema halls being shut down in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, but the films that were already running are bearing the brunt.The Tiger Shroff-starrer "Baaghi 3" and this week's release "Angrezi Medium", which brings back Irrfan, are the hardest hit. "Baaghi 3", which released in India on March 6, was doing brisk business till many states declared an emergency, directing halls to shut down. The film recorded the biggest opening of 2020 so far, raking in Rs 17.50 crore on day one. However, "Baaghi 3" is currently witnessing a slump at the box office after cinema halls were shut down in Delhi, Maharshtra, Jammu, Bihar, Orissa, Karnataka and Kerala, at the time of going to press.

While the film is expected to cross the Rs 100-crore mark, the trade had expected it to scale at least Rs 130 crore. Till Thursday, the film has managed Rs 90.67 crore, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh's tweet. As per several trade projections, big ticket films like "Baaghi 3" and Rohit Shetty's postopned "Sooryavanshi" stand to see a 15-20 per cent impact on their collections under these circumstances. The scene looks more bleak for a smaller film like "Angrezi Medium", which opened on Friday. The film is expected to see a higher impact, in the region of 25-30 percent.Trade expert Joginder Tuteja said: "Though 'Baaghi 3' has done well, one can't expect the same from upcoming biggies that release at a wide scale since the coronavirus situation would be looked at far more closely at least in the near future, till the menace settles down."
--IANS sug/vnc