India saw the first sign of audiences returning to theatres in some numbers after more than six months as new releases in West Bengal recorded decent occupancy considering the situation. There were many Bengali films released yesterday as the Pooja holidays started and the response is heartening

The biggest releases were Dracula Sir, Rawkto Rawhoshyo and SOS Kolkata and some cinemas which are 300 seaters had an audience count of 120-130 which is very good as these cinemas have a maximum capacity of 150 now due to social distancing. It means occupancy of around 40% when only 50% is the maximum allowed. Even the other smaller releases have found an audience and generally its good occupancy

Obviously the Puja holidays help in bringing out an audience but in these times no one could have been sure that even holidays will bring out the public but this is a sign that the audience wants to come and its about having new content in theatres. The response in West Bengal will give confidence for all industries in India that the audience is out there still wailting for good cinema. There is a question mark how long the films can hold after Puja but that is there even without a pandemic and dependent on the content.