INSANE demand for Animal compels exhibitors to hold post-midnight and early morning shows of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer across the country

In the post-pandemic world, an important indicator of whether or not a film has worked is when exhibitors hold shows after 12:00 am. Initially, such shows were played mainly in Mumbai and Delhi. With Gadar 2, cinema halls in smaller towns, too, experimented with post-midnight shows for the first time and it proved successful. And now, Animal, the latest release, has also jumped on to this bandwagon.

As of Friday evening, several cities like Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, etc, have thrown open the bookings for shows at 12:00 am, 1:00 am, 5:00 am, etc, for the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer. Maxus Cinemas, which can be considered as a multiplex chain that began this trend, will play shows at 1:00 am, 2:00 am, 5:30 am and 6:15 am at its Bhayander property near Mumbai. Going by the previous instances, the other cinemas of Maxus, too, should play shows after 12 am.

PVR Oberoi Mall, Goregaon, Mumbai has organized a show at 12:30 am. All its evening and night shows today are either sold out or about to get full. Cinepolis, Bhandup has organized a show at 1:15 am. Then in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Connplex Smart Theatres in Parimal, Prahladnagar and Shilaj are playing shows at 12:30 am and are fast-filling already. Sanelite Cinemas in Science City, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar will show Animal at 1:15 am. In Surat, Roongta Cinemas, Vesu, Animal will be played in an all-recliner screen.

An exhibition source told Bollywood Hungama, “Whenever a biggie works at the box office, such post-midnight shows are bound to be held. In the case of Animal, this has also happened as it’s facing capacity issues due to the clash with Sam Bahadur, which has taken some shows. Also, due to its long length, fewer shows are being played in the normal hours. The demand, however, is tremendous and hence, theatres have no choice but to play shows after midnight.”

The source further said, “Many more theatres in these cities and even other centres will play post-midnight shows on Saturday; if not Saturday, then Sunday for sure. The word of mouth has done the trick, it seems.”

Also Read: Sunny Deol extends heartfelt wishes to “Little brother” Bobby Deol as Animal hits theatres; see post