'Bell Bottom has done a great service'

'Bell Bottom may not have collected what was expected, but it has done a great service to the industry by reopening hundreds of cinema halls.'

After a slow start on Thursday, August 19, when it released in theatres, Akshay Kumar's Bell Bottom showed a marked improvement at the box office on Sunday, especially in Gujarat and Bihar.

The film collected approximately Rs 4.5 crore (Rs 45 million) on Sunday, of which Gujarat accounted for Rs 1 crore (rs 10 million).

The trade sees this as a good sign and are hopeful that the footfalls will get even better when Anand Pandit's Chehre releases this week.

"This definitely augurs well for Chehre," says Akshaye Rathi, who screens movies in Maharashtra, tells Subhash K Jha.

"The engines of the exhibition sector are just warming up and the collections and footfalls will see growth with every passing week as awareness around the reopening and new releases spreads among the people," says Rathi.

"Bell Bottom may not have collected what was expected from it but it has done a great service to the industry by reopening hundreds of cinema halls and paving the way for fresh content to be released," Rathi adds.

"The Sunday jump at the box office elicited a sigh of relief from all," agrees Girish Johar, a producer and an expert on the film business.

"The Raksha Bandhan holiday coupled with Sunday did the trick. Hope that during the coming weekdays, the momentum continues. It's a good sign for Chehre. Clearly, audiences are keen to come back to experience big screen entertainment."

"Sunday was expected to be good due to the holiday and Raksha Bandhan, and it turned out to be as anticipated," says trade analyst Atul Mohan.

"The numbers would have been even more had the cinemas been open in Maharashtra," Mohan says, adding, "I hope cinemas in Maharashtra open up soon which will contribute to big numbers for forthcoming releases."

Theatres in Maharashtra contribute 30% of a Hindi film's business.

Chehre Producer Anand Pandit is hopeful about the footfalls and says, "I am very happy about Bell Bottom doing well, not just because it will impact my film positively, but also because the whole cinema fraternity is struggling for survival."