'Bajrangi Bhaijaan': Another Eid miracle awaited from Salman Khan

July 16, 2015

salman-khanNew Delhi, Jul 16: Given the lacklustre journey of Bollywood in the first half of 2015, a remunerative miracle at the box office is much-awaited. All eyes are on superstar Salman Khan's "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", which delves into Indo-Pak relations, to break the dry spell, say trade analysts.

With only two films - "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" and "ABCD 2" - crossing the Rs.100 crore mark in Hindi cinema in 2015 so far, expectations are high from Kabir Khan's directorial which is set to hit the screens on Friday.

What's interesting is that the movie releases with a U/A certificate a day before Eid -- an occasion which has always reaped gold for Salman at the box office, proven by the success of films like "Kick", "Ek Tha Tiger", "Bodyguard", "Dabangg" and "Wanted".

"Expectations from 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' are really huge. We are hoping that it may cross Rs.300 crore. Pre-booking of the film has been fantastic," Delhi-based film distributor Joginder Mahajan told IANS.

Releasing on more than 5,000 screens across 50 countries, including the US, Britain, Pakistan and Australia, "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", which also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in pivotal roles, is the story of a man discovering love during a journey from India to Pakistan as he takes a dumb and mute girl back to her country.

According to Devang Sampat, business head - Strategy, Cinepolis, the anticipation from "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" is "humongous and the opening will be as grand as it could get".

"Right from the time when the teaser was released till the cusp of release date, the buzz has been getting stronger and stronger. The film is expected to outperform Salman's previous releases and may make a box office record of Rs.300 crore plus numbers," Sampat told IANS.

He added that more than 70 percent seats are booked and he is confident the opening weekend will go houseful for the movie.

"Eid and Salman have been a lethal combination," Sampat said.

Another trade expert, Mumbai-based Rajesh Thadani, also said that "'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' will break Salman's earlier records".

Currently, S.S. Rajamouli's southern magnum opus "Baahubali: The Beginning" is breaking Indian records. But it's success won't impact "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" -- which co-incidentally has been written by Rajamouli's father K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, who also penned "Baahubali" -- pointed out experts.

"Overseas too, 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' is releasing in a record number of screens. The 'Baahubali' competition is there, but Salman has a big fan following overseas," Thadani said.

Sampat added: "Nothing can stop Salman from taking an opening and that too on Eid. Both movies can survive and perform at the box office. Salman has been a hero of the masses. It's a given that the film will work in tier-II and tier-III towns."

However, the only place where the film might face some trouble is the national capital where the state government has hiked the entertainment tax.

"It's sad that Delhi government is increasing the entertainment tax from 20 percent to 40 percent. Whenever there is a hike in entertainment tax, people skip going to cinema halls. But the business of the film will be huge pan-India," Mahajan said.

Till now, "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" is riding on word of mouth publicity, and Salman's colleagues in filmdom -- Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan -- did their bit by publicising the first look of the film on Twitter.

It now only remains to be seen whether the "Dabangg" Khan is able to spin his magic on the pious occasion of Eid once again!

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Agencies
June 14,2020

Chennai, Jun 14: Tamil Nadu Police has recovered about 100 bottles of liquor from the car of actor Ramya Krishnan, who had starred in movies like Bahubali, Padaiappa and others.

According to the police, the actor was traveling in the car at the time on the East Coast Road (ECR) where they were carrying out vehicle checks on Thursday.

The police found about 100 liquor bottles in the car boot and when queried Ramya Krishnan said she was unaware of the bottles.

Later the police confiscated the bottles and arrested the driver Selvakumar who said the liquor was bought at the Tamil Nadu government-run liquor shop.

The government has not allowed the opening of the Tasmac shops in Chennai.

Another driver came and drove the actor back to Chennai.

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News Network
April 2,2020

Mumbai, Apr 2: Ramayan, the over three-decade-old TV series based on Hindu mythology, garnered 170 million viewers in four shows over the last weekend in its new avatar, the BARC said on Thursday.

This catapulted the Ramanand Sagar production as the highest watched serial in the Hindi general entertainment space ever, the Broadcast Audience Research Council said.

The show was relaunched last Saturday amid the gloomy times of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lot of thrust laid by the government machinery to popularise the series.

BARC's chief executive Sunil Lulla said the numbers notched up by the series was a bit surprising and called the move as a brilliant one by the Prasar Bharti.

He said eventually, we will also see advertisers flock the series which will be running for a few more days.

The inaugural show of the series on Saturday morning had 34 million viewers glued to their TV sets watching and enjoyed a rating of 3.4 per cent, while a telecast the same evening had 45 million viewers and a rating of 5.2 per cent.

The show bettered its performance on Sunday, with 40 million and 51 million people watching it in the morning and evening telecasts, respectively.

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News Network
June 9,2020

New Delhi, Jun 9: Multiplex operator PVR on Monday said it has cut salary across various levels, laid off employees and deferred increments during the lockdown to mitigate adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

The company said at present it is not generating any revenue from exhibition business and related activities as cinemas across the country are shut following the directions from the regulatory authorities.

According to the company, closure of screens during the lockdown will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity.

PVR has taken measures to reduce its personnel cost, including salary cuts across various levels in the organisation during the lockdown along with "reduction in headcount by way of layoffs/retrenchment" to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

Moreover, the board of the company, in its meeting held on Monday has also approved plan to raise Rs 300 crore through rights issue.

"Since Cinema Exhibition is the only business segment, company is currently not generating any revenue from admissions, food and beverage sales or other revenue and cash flow from operations," said PVR in an update.

Beginning from March 11, PVR started closing its screens in accordance with the order passed by various regulatory authorities and within a few days most of our cinemas across the country were shut down, it added.

The company will continue to incur committed cash outflows, including employee salary pay-outs, other overheads as well as payments for older working capital.

"This has and will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity during lockdown and even thereafter till business comes to normalcy," it added.

Further, once the cinemas are re-opened, we may not be able to run our cinemas at normal capacity utilisation levels on account of social distancing measures that cinemas may be required to follow as well as health concerns that the patrons may have, the multiplex operator said.

"On account of this, our revenue and cash flow generation may be impeded even once we are allowed to restart operations," it added.

The company has also deferred decision on on increments to reduce its cost, it added.

PVR has also written to developers for waiving rental and CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges for the lockdown period.

It is in discussion with developers for reducing rentals post re-opening and has invoked force majeure clause in its agreements with them.

Besides, the company has raised additional borrowings from existing bankers to shore up liquidity.

"As of March 31, 2020 the company had cash and bank balance of Rs 316 crore. As on June 7, 2020 cash and bank balance is Rs 227 crore (including undrawn bank lines)," it added.

Over reopening of theatres, PVR said that the government has come out with a phase-wise schedule.

In these guidelines cinema halls have been kept in the third phase of re-opening, where dates will be decided based on assessment of the situation.

"We are in continuous engagement with all regulatory authorities and hope to receive the necessary permissions for restarting opening in the near future," it added.

Currently PVR operates 845 screens in 176 properties in 71 cities.

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