It was a black Wednesday for Bollywood as cinema halls were asked to shut. This means that Vishal Bharadwaj’s Kaminey and Rumi Jaffrey’s Life Partner will not open in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane on Friday.
The Kaminey and Life Partner releases had to go ahead elsewhere in the country as prints have been dispatched abroad.
“Life Partner was scheduled for a worldwide release, so we have to go ahead,” said Preeti Shahani of Indian Film Company, which is presenting the Abbas-Mustan production.
Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures, co-producer of Kaminey, said they were monitoring the situation. “We’ll abide by state directives,” he said, adding that UTV was insured against such losses.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said it was a body blow. “This was a very big week with the Parsi New Year, Janmashtami and Independence Day holidays to boost collections,” he said. Analyst Amod Mehra added: “Losses are being pegged at Rs 3 crore per day. Both films could lose Rs 10-15 crore”
Kaminey cost Rs 55 crore to make and Life Partner Rs 20 crore. Shahani put the loss at 25-30 per cent. “Even if Pune cinema halls open on Friday, people won’t rush in,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Kaminey cost Rs 55 crore to make and Life Partner Rs 20 crore. Shahani put the loss at 25-30 per cent. “Even if Pune cinema halls open on Friday, people won’t rush in,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}To add to their woes, piracy is rampant. Mehra was sure the DVDs would be out by Friday.