By now, it is pretty clear that the second wave of coronavirus may stay longer than we expected. The scientific community is warning that the number of cases will go up in May and June. Furthermore, the death toll may rise, they warn us. Until our vaccination rollout gets in the right direction, the situation remains bleak.
Given this situation, the audience will not come to the theaters anytime soon. Currently, theaters in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are running small-budgeted movies, but the occupancy is so low. A big film like Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Vakeel Saab’ also had been affected by the second wave.
Reschedule of release dates
The scene will be repeated if any notable film dares to release in these trying times. So, the Telugu film industry has put its hopes on the vaccination drive. As things stand today, films like ‘Love Story’, ‘Tuck Jagadish’, ‘Virata Parvam’, ‘Acharya’, ‘Akhanda’, and ‘Khiladi’ may plan their releases in July.
And the biggies like ‘Radhe Shyam’, and ‘KGF Chapter 2’ will be rescheduled from July to later months.
No OTT plans
Interestingly, none of these movies are thinking about premiering them on OTT platforms skipping the theatrical window. They rather want to wait for a longer period to get a theatrical release. Or, if things turn worse, some of them may choose the path of Salman Khan’s ‘Radhe’ which will have a hybrid release – simultaneous release in theaters and pay-per-view online window.
