Old Photo of a Nearly Empty Theatre Falsely Linked to Brahmastra’s Screening

This photo of an almost empty theatre dates back to 2020 during the Unlock 5 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Fact-check: The claim states that theatres were almost empty for Brahmastra.

(Photo: The Quint)

An image showing a handful of people in a movie theatre is going viral on social media with a claim that this was the situation at the movie screening of Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra.

Even though the movie faced a lot of backlash amid the 'Bollywood boycott' trend, it managed to cross Rs 100 crore mark at the box office in India within just two days of releasing.

However, this is an old picture from 2020. The photo was clicked at Carnival Cinemas, Noida during the Unlock 5 amid the coronavirus pandemic after the movie theatres were reopened for the public.

CLAIM

Several users on social media took a dig at the movie by stating that the movie is heading towards a disaster, while crediting the 'Bollywood boycott' trend.

An archive of the post can be seen here. 

Similar claims can be seen here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

On conducting a simple reverse image search on Google Images, we came across a report by an English daily newspaper Deccan Herald published on 17 October 2020.

The report carried the same viral photo with a description that stated that image was taken at Carnival Cinemas in The Great India Place, Noida, after it had reopened for the viewers, during the Unlock 5 in October 2020.

The image was credited to a news agency, Press Trust of India (PTI).

Deccan Herald carried this image in 2020. 

We looked for an archive on PTI images and found the same photo from October 2020.

The image was taken by PTI in 2020.

Further, according to the reports, Brahmastra crossed Rs 100 crore in India and Rs 200 crore worldwide. Trade analyst Sumit Kadel also tweeted that the movie recorded the 'biggest weekend of all time for Hindi film'.

According to a report by an English newspaper, Hindustan Times, the film had sold Rs 23 crore worth of tickets through advance booking, one day prior to the movie's release.

Clearly, an old photo of an almost empty theatre was falsely linked to Brahmastra's release.

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