Remember the time when producers used to release their films in cinemas in direct opposition of each other. Shah Rukh Khan and Rohit Shetty’s Dilwale was pitted against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani on 18th December, 2015. More recently, Ajay Devgan’s Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior battled it out at the turnstiles with Deepika Padukone and Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak. Both the clashes — back in December 2015 as in January this year — were written and spoken about a great deal in the media. In the last but one week of 2015, it was Bajirao Mastani which outshone Dilwale. Similarly, at the start of this year, Ajay Devgan’s war drama stole a march over the emotional story of an acid attack victim. Of course, it is not always that one film loses to the other. Sometimes, the clash could prove bountiful for the box-office, with both the films scoring at the ticket windows as had happened in 2001 when Gadar – Ek Prem Katha and Lagaan, both released on 15th June, went on to do huge business. Conversely, both the films could turn turkey at the box-office. And why just two, we have had three and more films releasing on the same day, each film ultimately eating into the box-office collections of the others released simultaneously. The clash could happen in any week but if there’s a national or festive or public holiday in a week, chances of a clash of releases are brighter. That’s because every producer wants to take advantage of a big holiday in the week of release.
The age-old tradition of clashing of titles continues in the lockdown period too. Because cinemas are shut down due to the nationwide lockdown following the coronavirus outbreak, films are now premiering on streaming platforms. The first premiere of a major Bollywood film to be announced on an OTT platform was that of Gulabo Sitabo on 12th June. Soon after the announcement in May, of the Amitabh-Ayushmann starrer on Amazon Prime, sent shock waves in exhibition circles in India, Amazon followed it up with another announcement — Shakuntala Devi which is slated for streaming from 31st July. Not to be left behind, Disney+ Hotstar, at a virtual presss conference later in June, announced a slate of films which would be premiered on the platform, beginning with late Sushant Singh Rajput’s last film, Dil Bechara, on 24th July and including such biggies as Bhuj: The Pride Of India and Sadak 2. Netflix was next in line. Having announced in June the premiere of Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl on the platform, it announced a line-up of more films, including Ludo and Torbaaz, for premiere on the platform. So far so good? Not really.
One look at the forthcoming online releases and you will understand, the trend of new releases clashing on the same day has not been given a go-by even during the lockdown. The only difference is that instead of being pitted against each other at the box-office, the new releases will now be pitted against one another online. Take a look: on 31st July, Amazon Prime will start streaming Shakuntala Devi whereas Disney+ Hotstar will release Lootcase, and Netflix has scheduled Raat Akeli Hai. Not to be left behind, Zee5 will start streaming Yaara a day earlier, on 30th July. If releasing two or more films in the same week in cinemas pits them against one another and, therefore, affects the box-office collections of both or, if there are more than two films, all the films, the online clash of releases is also expected to adversely affect the subscription numbers of the various platforms.
Clearly, the various streaming platforms are vying with one another to acquire the premiere rights of Bollywood films with the aim of increasing their subscriber bases. Since the public does not have much of an option for entertainment these days because cinemas are closed, each OTT platform is looking to increase its subscriber base during the lockdown. One sure way of getting new subscribers is to premiere new Hindi films because the Indian public loves Bollywood. If all the four OTT platforms have chosen to release new films on 31st July, it is to retain their subscribers and get new subscribers while preventing the existing ones from subscribing to the rival OTT platform/s. At the box-office, the opening day’s net collections at the ticket windows used to be a perfect indicator of which film had opened better than the other/s but with the streaming platforms unwilling to share viewership figures of the films they stream, it would not be easy to assess which film has won the race. Interestingly, the online clashes are orchestrated by the streaming platforms whereas the clash of film releases in cinemas used to be decided by the producers. In fact, the multiplex chains and single-screen cinemas were always sad about film clashes at the box-office because they preferred one film release every week for optimum footfalls and monetary returns week after week.
Shakuntala Devi has Vidya Balan as the selling point; Lootcase has an ensemble cast comprising Kunal Kemmu, Rasika Duggal, Gajraj Rao and Vijay Raaz, among others; Raat Akeli Hai has Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the selling point; and Yaara has Vidyut Jammwal and Shruti Haasan as the known names. How one wishes, the OTT platforms would reveal their subscription numbers prior to 31st July and, say, a week after 31st July. If wishes were horses….