A recent comment of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap made me wonder whether he is delusional or he was simply trying to shift the blame for the failure of his latest film, Bandar, to an industry issue which had zero connection with the performance of Bandar at the ticket windows. The filmmaker, who is known for creating controversies with as much regularity as making films, recently criticised Indian cinemas for allocating limited shows to Indian films while giving better or more screening time to Hollywood films. He wondered how the domestic film industry could grow if Indian movies like his own Bandar and Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga were not given adequate opportunities to reach audience because of films like Obsession which were given, what he seems to think were, more shows than the aforementioned domestic films.
Kashyap’s comments reek of ignorance as much as they do of oversmartness. Ignorance, because he overlooks the fact that it is not just producers, directors and distributors who are in the business of films but also exhibitors. Anurag’s careless comment assumes that exhibitors must be duty-bound to allot more shows to homegrown films even if they lack merit, and cut the number of shows for Hollywood films even if they are far superior from the box-office point of view. He needs to understand that like producers and distributors, even exhibitors are trying to maximise their revenues — and they can do so by allotting more shows to films which resonate with the audience, and lesser shows to those which do not. Anurag Kashyap is ignorant of the fact that Hollywood’s Obsession has been loved by the paying public far, far more than his Bandar and Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga put together. If he doesn’t believe this, all he needs to do is compare the collections of the aforementioned Hindi films with the English film referred to above. Kashyap’s oversmartness lies in his trying to raise a trade topic (related to show allotments) of serious concern in a case where it was never an issue. Obsession or no Obsession, his Bandar would not have collected even Rs. 1 crore extra had it been allotted more shows. If Kashyap’s film could not fill up even 10% of the seats in the limited number of shows allocated to it, how on earth does he expect that extra shows would take Bandar out of the red? Pertinent to note that Bandar had to be pulled out of several cinemas mid-week — that is, even before it completed the first week’s run, due to lack of audience. Then how would more number of shows to the film have ensured better collections? Just how?!?
Does Anurag Kashyap know that show allotment can be a heart-burning issue only on the Friday when films are released. For, after the first day, exhibitors often add shows of films which are audience favourites while reducing shows of films which people don’t like or which members of the public prefer less than the favourite ones. Just so that Kashyap can understand, let me spell it out that even if Hollywood’s Obsession were to be given a single show in, say, a five-screen multiplex whereas Bandar were to be allotted 10 shows on the day it (Bandar) opened, the scene would be just the opposite from the very next day, with Obsession running in daily 10 shows and Bandar having to remain content with a single show only. One doesn’t know if Kashyap is ignorant about this aspect of the trade or he raked up the issue of show allotment only to shift the blame for the failure of his Bandar on Hollywood films. Either way, it is bad for the guy. If it is ignorance, it underlines that he is clueless about the functioning of the industry of which he is a part. And if he is aware of the ways of the trade but still prefers to shift the focus from his miserable failure to a serious trade issue, the trade people are amused because they are actually laughing at his stupidity.
Let me explain this point by comparing two Bollywood films. The same Main Vaapas Aaunga, which Kashyap talks about, opened in around four shows daily in multiplexes on June 12 whereas Haunted Echoes Of The Past, released on the same day, was given just one show daily. Yet, the first day of Haunted closed at around Rs. 2.25 crore, far more than the first-day total of Main Vaapas Aaunga. Clearly, lesser number of shows for Haunted did not mean a lower box-office total. Conversely, more shows for Main Vaapas Aaunga did not translate into a higher box-office total. The same logic applies when the comparison is between a Bollywood film and a Hollywood one.
Anurag Kashyap needs to (B)andarstand that critical acclaim and box-office performance are two completely different things when discussing a film. He also needs to appreciate the fact that if he makes a successful box-office film, he won’t have to look for opportunities to make an ass of the public by first expecting them to watch the film and then telling them that his film is not doing the numbers because exhibitors love Hollywood more than him. The bottomline is: Bandar is a box-office flop, and Kashyap should stop monkeying around like this! For, it is baseless comments like Kashyap’s which give the public an impression that the industry is a house divided.
