Bollywood running scared of IPL?

Besides Daas Dev shifting its release date to next month, no big films are now releasing in April and May this year, while the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is in progress.

After Rajinikanth’s 2.0 and Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika were pushed ahead due to their VFX and shooting issues respectively, the two months look rather barren when it comes to big names.

“The only two big commercial actor films are October and Raazi, but they’re offbeat films,” opines trade analyst Atul Mohan. “There’s also an Amitabh Bachchan-Rishi Kapoor starrer 102 Not Out. You also have to take into account that people are moving in and out of town due to summer vacations. That transition phase also deters filmmakers from releasing movies at that time. But yes, this can give smaller films a better chance at the box office, because they will get more screens in the absence of the biggies. So, if a film is really good on content, it will end up a winner at the box office.”

In 2017, Baahubali 2 released in April, followed by Hindi Medium and Half Girlfriend three weeks later. 2016 saw the release of Baaghi, and 2015 had Tanu Weds Manu Returns, which went on to do Rs 150 crore box office business.

— Sanskriti Media