Anees Bazmee: Theatres are open but do people have money in their pockets for entertainment?

While filmmaker Anees Bazmee admits that entertainment is important , he is not sure how people will respond to the reopening of cinemas at present.

As theatres reopen in the country almost after seven months, there is a release schedule planned for the coming films which is a mix of old and new films. But uncertainty still looms over whether people would be willing to go to theatres in large numbers, according to director Anees Bazmee, who feels that because of the economic crisis the purchasing power of the people has diminished.

Director Anees Bazmee was shooting his next Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 before the lockdown.

“It is a nice that theatres have reopened. I mean if everything in the country has resumed so why isolate cinemas? But I am still too not sure what will be the outcome, whether people will want to go to theatres, because logon ke paas paisa nahi hai shayad. If people have money they would first get their basic necessities rather than spending on a movie ticket,”shares Bazmee.

The No Entry (2005) feels that while he admits that entertainment is important , he admits that he is not sure how people will respond to it.

While cinemas remained shut, OTTs took prominence in the past few months and Bazmee welcomes this move and says that he too wishes to dabble with the medium in the near future.

“OTTs zabardast jagah hai. Theatrical is a different experience and so is OTT. I also want to do something on OTT very soon. But having said that the big screen impact cannot be replace,” he says.

The filmmaker is looking forward to resuming the shoot of his upcoming film, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 which stars Kartik Aaryan.

“I was shooting for my film in Lucknow and then in March after the shutdown went to Mumbai from where I went to Lonavala with my family. I have been here ever since,” he concludes.