As cinemas slowly reopen across the country, Bollywood is looking to make up the massive losses that were induced by the pandemic across the country.
Two of India's biggest film studios, T-Series and Reliance Entertainment have signed a ₹135 million mega deal, to jointly develop more than 10 feature films including action thrillers, biopics, dramas and comedies over the next 36 months.
Reports say, the deal is one of the largest financing efforts in the Indian film industry in recent history, but it comes at a time when most producers are abandoning theatres to release their films on OTT platforms such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
The deal is particularly important for an industry, whose biggest market is Maharashtra. Though some states have started allowing movie halls to resume screenings, theatres are still shut in Maharashtra, which accounts for roughly 30% to 50% of a mainstream Hindi film's theatrical earnings.
Producers are hoping that theatres will re-open in Maharashtra in time for Diwali, with most of India's adult population vaccinated. But threats of a third Covid wave is still looming large.