Today is quite a unique Friday for the film industry. With cinemas remaining closed as a precautionary measure to combat the coronavirus, no film has opened in India today (March 20).
There have been earlier occasions when there have been no new films releasing on a Friday but that has been because of industry issues. In 1986, the film industry in Maharashtra had downed shutters completely to demand concessions for the then beleaguered industry. At that time, there had been no new films hitting the screens for several weeks together. In April 2009, film releases were put off for several weeks as producers/distributors and exhibitors fought over the revenue-sharing ratio. During that time, not a single big film was released for almost nine to ten weeks. Of course, small films did hit the screens in the months of April and May 2009.
But this Friday is different because film releases have been put off due to a national calamity.