Telugu film ‘Ishq’ will be released in theatres on 30 July

New Delhi: Telugu film Ishq will release in theatres on 30 July, according to the makers of the movie. The movie release is expected to help begin the recovery of the film exhibition business, which has been impacted by the covid-19 pandemic.

Cinemas in several states have been allowed to re-open as cases of covid-19 infections continue to drop. The film stars Teja Sajja and Priya Prakash Varrier in lead roles and has been directed by S. S. Raju.

Even after the first lockdown, south Indian cinema quickly rolled out money-spinners as big films stuck to their release dates in contrast with the Mumbai films industry, which has deferred releases amid rising covid-19 cases and restrictions in the Hindi-speaking markets, adding to its losses in April.

While Tamil films Master and Sulthan and Telugu offerings such as Uppena and Jathi Ratnalu set the cash registers ringing soon after theatres were permitted to reopen, theatres in the southern region of the country saw big films such as Dhanush’s Karnan and Pawan Kalyan’s Vakeel Saab even as the north Indian film industry battles crises caused by delays.

The strong theatre-going audiences and fan culture in the southern region have aided better recovery for its film industry. With big films maintaining schedules, viewers have been able to keep up their consumption habits, according to trade experts. Far fewer cinemas have shut down in southern India as compared to the northern region.

Apart from the local offerings, Hollywood films have also been well-received with Godzilla vs Kong earning more than 60% of its revenue from the southern region earlier this year.

Despite uncertainties regarding the re-opening of two of India's biggest box office territories— Delhi and Maharashtra, makers of Fast & Furious 9 have also said that the film will be released in India on 5 August in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

So far states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have allowed cinemas re-open albeit with caps on capacity.