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Join UsThe India Vs Pakistan cricket world cup semifinal is all that everyone’s talking about. But have you ever wondered how badly the Cricket World Cup affected the film industries in India and Pakistan. Here’s an exclusive analysis:
Theatres, both in India and Pakistan had to down their shutters since the world cup began, as no producers were prepared to release their films while the world cup was going on. Notwithstanding the result of the India Vs Pakistan match at Mohali, both the film industries may take months to recover from the losses made during the whole of March, when cinemagoers stayed away from the theatres.
The Pakistan film industry even suffered a bigger loss: take note that the Pakistani film industry is much smaller than Indian film industry – it produced only a dozen films in 2009, compared to hundreds in India. As such, most of the screens in Pakistan are occupied by Indian films. Salman Khan’s Wanted and Dabangg were big hit in that country.]
Back in India, two medium budget films, FALTU and Game are releasing this Friday, April 1st, a lot depends on whether India wins against Pakistan in today’s crucial semifinal tie. Because if India wins, it will play against Sri Lanka final in the world cup final in Mumbai on April 2nd. This will certainly lead to a fall in collections for both the films concerned.
But the trying times don’t end here. The fourth season of the hugely successful league cricket format, the Indian Premiere League, is all set to return to the television screens starting April 8th. Incidentally, Akshay Kumar’s Thank You, which is releasing on the same day, will be the first film to brave the opposition of the IPL 4. Overall, filmmakers and producers, who were wary of releasing their films during the earlier IPL seasons, have this time decided to take the league head-on. However, it remains to be seen if all the Bollywood films scheduled to release in April make the cut at the box-office windows.
Till then we just hope and pray for the India Vs Pakistan semifinal at Mohali. This is one contest that is being keenly watched across the world not only by cricket fans but by the film people too!
More on the impact of ICC Cricket World Cup on Bollywood box-office:
Bollywood Vs. Cricket World Cup
Breaking The World Cup Jinx For Filmmakers
Worst Time For Bollywood Exhibitors
