Kolkata relives the big screen experience – Times of India

It was a morning filled with hope for single-screen theatre owners and multiplex managements in the city, as two brand new releases – BellBottom and Mukhosh – hit the screens. And the footfall, especially in the morning shows, fuelled the hope even further. “The 10 am show of BellBottom had footfall of around 20%. It was way better than the footfall post reopening last year. Back then we had to cancel shows due to a lack of audience,” said Satadeep Saha from a theatre in Behala.
Even CT observed a similar scene at a south Kolkata multiplex. Speaking to us, Amitava Guha Thakurta, regional director of the multiplex chain, said, “We hope that the momentum built by BellBottom will help us overcome the dark phase. Even the Bengali releases should draw audiences.”
Navin Choukhani of a south Kolkata single screen said the initials for both releases are satisfactory. “We are hopeful that business will go up this weekend,” he added. To this Arijit Dutta of another prominent theatre said, “I feel vaccination has made a huge difference this time.”
Anusuya Roy, who had come with her mother to catch the 11.15 am show of the Akshay Kumar-starrer at the multiplex, said, “It feels really nice to watch a film on the big screen after so long. It has been a really long gap.”
We also caught Suruchi Khandelwal queuing up at the ticket counter of the multiplex. “We’re here to watch BellBottom. While we’re yet to experience sitting in the hall, it really feels nice to be back in a movie theatre after what seems like ages,” she told us.
In the afternoon, we spotted a good crowd braving the rains to attend the premiere show of the other Bengali release this weekend, Binisutoy: Without Strings.