Editor's Choice
BMC Proposes Up to 570% Hike in Entertainment Tax on Mumbai Cinemas, Concerts
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation proposal to increase entertainment tax on theatres, multiplexes and venues by up to 570 percent could lead to higher prices for movie tickets and concert admissions in Mumbai, according to film trade analysts tracking the development.
Air-conditioned cinema halls and multiplexes would face the most substantial tax increases under the proposal, according to multiple reports The change would fall under the BMC’s local body entertainment tax, a levy separate from GST that municipal corporations in Maharashtra have the authority to impose on tickets for films, plays, concerts and similar events within their jurisdiction.
Currently awaiting state government approval, the proposal has not yet taken effect, with existing tax rates remaining in place, and any change would depend on sign-off from the Maharashtra government before cinema chains, multiplex operators or event organizers would be required to adjust ticket pricing.
Film trade analysts have flagged the proposal as a potential blow to cinema attendance in one of India’s largest theatrical markets, at a time when multiplex chains are already working to rebuild footfall after years of competition from streaming. A tax increase of this scale, if approved, would likely be passed on to consumers through higher ticket prices across Mumbai’s cinema halls and live event venues.
Studio CarryOnHarry will be watching whether the state government approves the hike as proposed, scales it back, or shelves it altogether — the gap between a municipal proposal and an actual policy change is often where these stories quietly end.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
Press Releases at Studio CarryOnHarry
Powered by SgAiSolution
Editor's Choice
A Decade Later: How Split Became Shyamalan’s Unlikely Commercial Triumph
M. Night Shyamalan’s Split became a surprise $278.5 million hit on a $9 million budget, with James McAvoy’s performance in the psychological thriller…
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Split’s premiere at Fantastic Fest occurred on 26 September 2016, a full decade ago, marking the arrival of a film that would become one of the more surprising hits of its era. The psychological thriller, helmed by director and writer M. Night Shyamalan, featured performances from James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley, and would not reach wide theatrical release in the United States until January 20, 2017.
At its core, the film presented McAvoy portraying a character with dissociative identity disorder who imprisoned three teenage girls in an underground location, cycling through distinct personalities over the course of the story. Critics responded strongly to that performance, and reviews of the film were largely positive on the strength of it, alongside praise for Shyamalan’s direction. The reception wasn’t without pushback, though: mental health advocates criticized the film’s portrayal of dissociative identity disorder as stigmatizing.
What audiences didn’t fully know going in was that Split functioned as a stealth sequel to Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, released back in 2000, quietly connecting the two films as the second chapter in what became a trilogy. That link paid off commercially in a way few could have predicted for a film made on a $9 million budget. The film earned $278.5 million globally, holding the record as Blumhouse’s top-grossing film until 2023, when Five Nights at Freddy’s surpassed it.
The production itself began with principal photography starting November 11, 2015, in Philadelphia, where the story is also set. Universal Pictures handled distribution, a change from Unbreakable’s original distributor Touchstone Pictures, which had gone defunct by 2016. The trilogy that Split quietly kicked into motion reached its conclusion in 2019 with Glass, which brought the casts of both earlier films together.
Studio CarryOnHarry finds the stealth-sequel gambit the most enduring part of this story: a decade on, it’s still one of the more effective bait-and-switches a studio thriller has pulled on an unsuspecting audience.
Studio CarryOnHarry Perspective
McAvoy’s performance is the film’s real draw because audiences came for a thriller about containment and stayed for a masterclass in controlled transformation. The actor’s ability to shift not just dialogue and mannerism but apparent physical presence between personalities gave viewers something they rarely see: a genuinely virtuosic turn in a genre film, where such work typically gets overlooked in favor of plot mechanics.
In practice, this matters most in how viewers defend the film in conversation. Ask someone why Split worked for them, and they’re likely to describe a specific moment—the way a personality emerges in McAvoy’s posture, the tonal shift mid-sentence—rather than the plot itself. It’s the reason the film remains watchable even after its twist is known; the performance becomes the actual story.
Yet the critical praise also somewhat obscured a real question: how much of the acclaim reflected McAvoy’s skill versus how much reflected relief that Shyamalan had made something technically competent again? The two are hard to separate in retrospect, and it’s worth acknowledging that the performance benefited from being embedded in a film that worked, rather than existing entirely on its own terms.
The lasting lesson may be that genre filmmaking’s most valuable currency isn’t surprise or scale, but the presence of an actor fully committed to the material in front of them. McAvoy gave audiences permission to take the premise seriously, which turned a low-budget thriller into something that felt substantial.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
Press Releases at Studio CarryOnHarry
Powered by SgAiSolution
Editor's Choice
Jailer 2 Unveils Style-Driven Track Featuring Rajinikanth’s Signature Mass Appeal
Rajinikanth’s entry song ‘One Sun One Moon’ from Jailer 2 showcases his signature swagger, with music composed by Anirudh Ravichander.
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
A new track titled "One Sun One Moon" from Jailer 2 has surfaced, centered on an ornate entry scene for Rajinikanth, with music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, according to reports covering the release.
Jailer 2 is the sequel to Nelson Dilipkumar’s 2023 hit Jailer, which paired Rajinikanth’s mass-hero persona with a slower-burn character study and became one of the biggest Tamil releases of that year. Anirudh Ravichander scored the original film as well, and his return for the sequel continues a partnership that has become one of the more closely watched composer-star pairings in current Tamil cinema. Industry chatter has also drawn comparisons between Anirudh’s evolving sound on this project and past work from other Tamil composers, a sign of how closely fans are tracking the film’s music ahead of release.
Reports describe the song as leaning into Rajinikanth’s established screen presence, framing his entry with the kind of stylized swagger that has defined his biggest commercial hits. Coverage of the broader film has also noted that Anirudh’s score is expected to lift the theatrical experience during the film’s action and mass sequences, consistent with his approach on the first Jailer.
Rajinikanth’s involvement in Jailer 2 comes as he also has Coolie, his 171st film, in the pipeline, underscoring an unusually active late-career stretch for the actor.
Studio CarryOnHarry will be watching whether "One Sun One Moon" becomes one of the tentpole tracks fans point to when the film’s full soundtrack lands, given how much weight Anirudh’s music carried in the original Jailer’s box office run.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
Press Releases at Studio CarryOnHarry
Powered by SgAiSolution
-
TV & MOVIES6 days agoJewell R. Powell’s Holiday Film Launches Dual Distribution Strategy Targeting Congregations and Multiplexes
-
Editor's Choice5 days agoAlia Bhatt Attends Special Screening of Mother’s Film ‘Om Ka Hari,’ Praises It as ‘Gem’
-
Books4 days agoNew Space Opera ‘Cacophony Of Separation’ Follows Two Broken Souls Through a Galactic Empire Built on Subjugation
-
Editor's Choice3 days agoCSIFF26’s Shortlist: How Six Filmmakers Are Pushing Caribbean Cinema Beyond Borders
-
Editor's Choice5 days agoHrithik Roshan Moves Behind the Camera for Prime Video Thriller ‘Storm’
-
Editor's Choice3 days agoWeek 7 and Still Counting: How Hanuman Ansh Broke the Mould
