Cricket's loss is cinema's gain

The magic of movies is back after India's unceremonious exit from the World Cup cricket if teeming cinemas is any indication.

"Both India and Pakistan are out, and now only die-hard cricket lovers are watching the late night matches," said senior member of the cine trade, Vijay Kher.

"We knew that business would be hit once the World Cup got underway, so we had made arrangements for showing live telecast of matches on a large LCD screen in the theatre," said manager of Smruti Theatre, Santosh Mishra.

But with India now out of the tournament, not many people seem interested.

Bollywood flick Namaste London did badly on the first day when Sri Lanka thrashed India on Friday. The collections for Friday, Saturday and Sunday speak for themselves: Released in four theatres including the Inox multiplex, the movie had a collection of Rs 1,56,870 on the first day, Rs 2,80,590 on the second and Rs 4,78,168 on Sunday.

Collections also improved significantly at Raipur and Bhilai in Chhattisgarh. They doubled at Raipur from Rs 40,488 to Rs 81,200 on Friday and Sunday, and were Rs 35,691 and Rs 59,435 at Bhilai.

Cine exhibitors said that there were a number of films lined up for release in March but would now hit screens mid-April and May. "We expect eight to 10 new releases from April 13 onwards and a similar number in May," said Kher.

A number of theatres did not screen late evening (second) shows on Friday because of the low turnout. "We sold five tickets and later refunded the money," said a theatre manager requesting anonymity.

Marketing manager of Inox Limited Alpana Mare was disappointed at India's exit but was happy with the way cine lovers queued up for tickets on Sunday.

"We had planned to show all matches played by India in one of the theatres at the multiplex in case India reached the super eight stage," Mare said.

However, with India knocked out of the race, the fears of people not turning up for movies is over.