Roohi, a horror-comedy, featuring Janhvi Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma, is the first major theatrical release after coronavirus-induced lockdown led to the shutting down of the theatres. The last big-ticket film to release on the 70mm screens was Irrfan Khan starrer Angrezi Medium. It hit the theatres on March 12, 2020. Now, exactly after a year, with the release of Roohi on March 11, film trade analysts are expecting to see the audience returning to cinema halls.

Girish Johar believes certain factors will contribute to Roohi’s ‘decent’ performance at the ticket counters. He says, “Roohi belongs to a genre that has been successful in the past. There have been many horror-comedies that have done well at the ticket counters, Stree being the most prominent one. The trailer has generated good curiosity. Also, it has a good cast with Janhvi attracting a young fanbase. The buzz is decent around the film.”

Roohi, directed by Hardik Mehta and written by Mrigdeep Singh Lamba, is expected to grow with word of mouth since the makers are releasing it on Thursday itself. “Makers are pretty confident about the release of their film. Word of mouth can help and, also it’s a holiday because of Mahashivaratri, so it will give some benefit. Hence, I am expecting a decent start at the box office. Also, it will contribute to the audience coming back to the theatres,” Johar shared.

However, there are a few factors that might affect Roohi’s box office collection. “Now, what remains to be seen is if the audience would want to come to the theatres because the core region of Maharashtra from where most of the box office revenues are generated is once again witnessing a surge in the number of coronavirus cases. Also, there is a 50 per cent cap on the capacity of theatres in most of the states,” added Girish Johar.

Roohi revolves around a singing ghost Roohi (Kapoor) who puts grooms to sleep so it can possess their brides. It is Veer (Rao) and Raj (Sharma) who take up the responsibility to save the brides from Roohi. While Stree and Roohi come from the same stable and genre, they are ‘completely different films’. Director Mehta told PTI, “Roohi has its own identity. The film has nothing to do with Stree except it is a horror comedy genre and it is coming from the same producers. Content wise it is not similar.”