Summary:
Mumbai, Oct 25 (PTI) Superstar Salman Khan, who is awaiting the theatrical release of his film "Antim: The Final Truth", on Monday said nothing can replace the joy of watching a movie on the big screen.Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, "Antim" is reportedly a remake of the 2018 hit Marathi crime drama "Mulshi Pattern".The action drama is billed as a "gripping tale of two powerful men" with polar opposite ideologies; one a cop and the other a gangster, played by Khan and Aayush Sharma, respectively.When asked about the change in the viewing pattern of the audience amidst the coronavirus lockdown, Khan said people have slowly started coming back to theatres."To watch movies on laptop, iPad or on a small phone, there is not much joy...
as compared to watching it with everyone on the big screen in a theatre.
If you think small phones are an alternative to cinema halls, then it is not true," the 55-year-old star told reporters at the trailer launch of "Antim".While many states in the country allowed cinema halls to resume operations in the first half of 2021 at 50 per cent occupancy with adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols, Maharashtra, a prime market for Hindi films, permitted theatres to start anew from October 22.Khan, whose last release "Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai" arrived on Zee Plex through the streamer ZEE5 in India, said the film exhibition industry will eventually bounce back."Whatever opening would have been there earlier at the box office (before COVID-19) of a movie it should be 50 percent less now.
The industry will come back, the alternate seating arrangements will also go away.
Mostly everyone has been vaccinated now but we all still have to be careful," he added.Khan also revealed there were initial plans to release "Antim" on an OTT (over-the-top) platform, but the makers later decided to release the film theatrically."At one point it seemed lockdown won"t ease, theatres won"t open so this film was heading to OTT.
We thought the lockdown would not open and it was going on OTT.