Tamil movie "Maya" and latest Bollywood release "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon" were the two major movies that were affected at the box office by the Saturday's bandh in Karnataka.
The Statewide bandh, conducted by Kannada groups, demanding the speedy implementation of Kalasa-Banduri canal project affected normal life. Public transport was hit and cinema halls remained closed.
As a result, the movies, mainly "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon" and "Maya", which were expected to perform well at the box office on Saturday, were hit. Especially in Bengaluru, owners of multiplexes co-operated with the bandh call and decided to play the movies only in the evening.
"Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon" had close to 40 shows on Saturday and "Maya" was expected to have about 25 shows.
However, the multiplexes have increased the screens on Sunday with the Bollywood movie having close to 80 shows and the Tamil movie around 40 shows in the Garden City.
Other movies that were affected by the bandh are Kannada movies "Aatagara", "Kendaampige", "Luv u Alia", "Rangi Taranga", "Uppi 2", Bollywood films "Baahubali" and "Calendar Girls", English films like "Everest" and Telugu film "Subramanyam for Sale".
However, the bandh did not affect some parts of Coastal Karnataka, where theatres functioned as usual. As a result, in Mangaluru, "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon" had a decent number of shows.
Kalasa-Banduri canal Project
Kalasa-Banduri canal is a proposed project to solve the drinking water problems of Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi and neighbouring regions spread across four districts in Karnataka.
After being on paper for decades, the project got nod from both the State and Centre governments in 2001. But following opposition from the Goa government, it was withheld and now the issue is pending before a tribunal.
