Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

With producers v/s multiplexes stand off taking a turn for the worst from last weekend onwards (there was not a single new release, not even belonging to B Grade cinema) and Indian Premier League (IPL) already making its presence felt, it is going to be a dry spell ahead for Bollywood. After a disastrous first quarter of 2009, this is industry's worst dream finally coming true with hardly any films being confirmed till end of May.

"Really, it couldn't have been worst time for Bollywood with first bad quality of movies dominating January till March, producers calling a strike in April and then May seeing IPL at it's ferocious best", rues Madhur Bhandarkar who is currently busy shooting for JAIL.

Worst ever quarter this decade

The period from January to April has been terrible to say the least. Perhaps the worst ever this decade! Films have not just flopped left, right and centre; they have been box office disasters all the way. Each of the biggies has failed at the box office, whether it is CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, BILLU BARBER, DELHI 6 and most recent 8X10 TASVEER. On the other hand successes like DEV D, RAAZ - THE MYSTERY CONTINUES and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE haven't been big enough to compensate for the losses.

Cinema to watch and enjoy

"Need of the hour is cinema which people are dying to watch and enjoy", says Sajid Khan who is getting ready to begin shooting for HOUSEFULL (starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone), "There have to be many more money spinners like RAB NE BANA DI JODI, OM SHANTI OM, DHOOM:2, SINGH IS KINNG and GHAJINI arriving back to back in theaters."

So do we really have such films in the pipeline which could collectively make the industry richer by 200-250 crores in 3 months flat? Frankly, there aren't many in the current quarter that could do the trick between April till June. There are two roadblocks here - a) Producers v/s multiplexes stand off and b) IPL.

No new films released

Let's begin with the first issue. This time around the producers have tightened their stand as a result of which no new known films have been released from 4th April onwards.

Says a distributor on condition of anonymity, "Such strong has been the outlook of producers towards the entire issue, rightly so, that there are no promos of any upcoming movie (barring KAL KISSNE DEKHA) which are currently on air. This means that the makers are more than 100% convinced that the stand off is not expected to end before end of May."

As a result, it has been a barren scene out there in the month of April with not a single prestigious release taking place for four weeks in a row. With the month of April being completely lost, all eyes will be on the releases taking place in the month of June, 'provided' the strike is over in May with producers and multiplexes arriving at some sort of resolution.

IPL Twenty20

Now arrives the second issue which Bollywood faced hard and strong even in 2008 - IPL!

Entire month of May will witness the Twenty20 matches that would be watched by millions of Indians between 4PM till 11PM. This translates into loss of prime time of movie watching with shows threatened to be greeted with empty houses till 24th May, the day of the Finals.

No wonder, May would be devoid of any major releases. As per the original schedule (when producers hadn't called for strike), movies like NEW YORK, LIFE PARTNER, RAFTAAR 24X7, SHORTKUT - THE CON IS ON, JASHN, KAL KISSNE DEKHA and KAMBAKKTH ISHQ were all confirmed for a May release. However, with all the plans going topsy-turvy, the only confirmed release of the month is Kunal Khemu and Soha Ali Khan starrer 99 which is all set for a 8th May release.

"I am quite positive about the future though", Sajid Khan says in an optimistic tone, "KAMBAKKTH ISHQ is exactly the kind of cinema which everybody will go to watch. When the film releases, genuinely happiness and smiles will return to the film industry. This will most probably be one movie this year that should cross the 80-90 crore barrier."

Well, one hopes that his words come true and Bollywood gets a major money spinner that it is so desperately waiting for.