An adventure of the cinematic universe in the COVID-19 era viewed from the eye of perseverance. Examine how the movie going experience was changing, as well as safety precautions, and the silver linings that define the new normal at the movies.

Key Words – COVID-19, Cinema Industry, Government, OTT, Production Houses

1. Introduction

The global economy was in a state of mayhem at the onset of COVID-19 in December 2019. However India was unaffected until early March 2020, but the government implemented policies to maintain the situation and gave orders of a nationwide lockdown to keep the situation under control and to maintain 'social distancing'. COVID-19 prompted a significant shift of people from cinema halls to their homes, greatly affecting many industries, including the cinema industry.

The escalation of COVID-19 brought many century-old laws back into action. Many states in India implemented The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 which grants the states in India to take authority and take decisions to handle the widespread diseases within their jurisdictions. Also, according to the Act any advice given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is enforceable as orders. On 20th March, 2020 the Maharashtra government gave orders of a comprehensive shutdown and only allowed essential services to function such as groceries and pharmacies. The order of the Maharashtra government brought a halt to the services of cinema halls, amusement parks, restaurants, etc.

2. Impact of Government orders on Cinema Industry

In response to the outbreak, the government ordered to close the production houses till 31st March, 2020. Many renowned production houses such as Yash Raj Films delayed the release of their upcoming films due to the outbreak. Numerous producers and filmmakers had adopted precautionary measures, leading to the postponement of major film releases like Sooryavanshi, Jersey etc. However, some of the production houses dared to release their films despite of the outbreak and as a result experienced a very low box office collection and incurred losses.

The most important factor in a cinema industry is 'dates'; actor dates, release dates, schedule dates, promotion dates and location dates, to name a few. Because the industry depends so largely on reservations, clearances, and permissions from third parties, it is very dependent on precise scheduling and dates. Furthermore, a large number of important players in the production industry work on a project-basis and are not affiliated with any one production house, which increases the effect of delays on the total cost of operations.

Many production houses held meetings and decided to stop shootings of films and series as a result of the outbreak of the disease. Also, the Producers Guild of India took a very bold step to start a relief fund for the daily wage earners of the cinema industry as they were the most affected people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Rise of OTT Platforms

The cinema industry was saved by the bell because of the OTT platforms. As the government had imposed nationwide lockdown, the people were forced to stay indoors. Because of this the OTT platforms saw a multiplication in their subscribers. Many production houses sold their movies to OTT platforms as they could not afford more losses due to delay in release of their projects. The OTT platforms made huge profits during the period of COVID-19 but there was a lot of competition as there was a tendency to jump from one platform to another.

As the people who witnessed this pandemic knew this was a once in a lifetime thing, there were reports that film producers were rushing in to register Covid-19-based film titles.

4. Conclusion

Many sectors adopted different strategies to comeback from the economic repercussions that the pandemic had caused but the cinema industry faced many challenges as the entertainment industry could not seamlessly transition to a work from home model.

There were concerns about the potential spread of the virus, particularly in enclosed and air-conditioned spaces like cinema halls or malls, which affected the pace of revival of the cinema industry.

References –

The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.