Cinemas rest on Ranbir-Alia starrer Brahmastra to tip scales for Bollywood

Three big releases - Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha, Kapoor's Shamshera and Akshay Kumar's Raksha Bandhan - in July-August had a collective budget of Rs 490 crore

After a dismal two months when big-ticket movies sank at the box office, multiplex owners are counting on Brahmastra that releases on Friday to swing their fortunes this quarter (July-September).

The fantasy adventure from the Dharma Productions stable starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt comes at a time overall box office collections have dropped 20 per cent in July-August (over pre-Covid levels) and occupancy rates have gone down from an average of 25-27 per cent to 20-22 per cent, according to analysts.

The stock market prices of listed exhibition companies reflect the concern. For instance, PVR’s shares have fallen by 9.74