Bollywood producers are scared of the pre-Diwali period. So much so that producers shun the pre-festival days as if it were the plague. No producer in his senses would dare to release his star cast or big-budgeted film in the days leading to the festival of lights. This is because, by tradition, it is assumed that footfalls in cinemas decrease drastically during the pre-Diwali days as people, more so the womenfolk, in Hindu households are busy with spring cleaning of their homes, preparing sweetmeats and other festive activities. It is believed that due to the above reasons, cinema-going takes a backseat.
However, Hollywood film Black Adam opened today (20th October) all over India — not just the original version but also its dubbed Hindi version. In spite of it being an odd-day release in the pre-Diwali period, the film has managed decent collections in the shows completed so far. Why, even the morning shows of the film recorded impressive footfalls. When attendance in cinemas in morning shows for Bollywood films are often barely 15 and 20 persons, it was heartening to see that there were 100-plus people in the morning shows of Black Adam at plenty of cinemas, debunking the theory that pre-Diwali days are dull for the box-office.
Will some Bollywood producer be bold enough to release his star cast film in the pre-Diwali week next year? Time will tell!