Diwali, Eid and Christmas are three days of the year which are truly coveted by producers for the release of their films. For, films released on the aforementioned three festive occasions invariably open to bumper houses or, at least, very good houses. Since these are festival holidays and the mood of the public on such occasions is one of celebration, footfalls in cinemas on the festival days are far more than usual, resulting in bountiful box-office collections.
But this Eid seems to be telling a different story — at least, as far as the advance booking counters are concerned. The advance booking for both the major Eid releases — Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan — is neither excellent nor very good nor even good. It is outright bad. This has dampened the spirits of the film trade in general and the exhibition sector in particular. A bountiful Eid is the wish of every single exhibitor in the country, but will the cinemas witness huge attendance on 11th April this year? Going by the lukewarm advance booking, it doesn’t seem likely.
Said one exhibitor, “The advance booking of one film is bad, and of the other is terrible.” A cinema controller rued, “With two big-budget and big star cast films pitted against each other on Eid, exhibitors were afraid that the two films would eat into each other’s collections. But the advance booking is so poor for both the films that the question of ‘eating into each other’s collections’ simply won’t arise.”
When two big films release in the same week, it becomes the trade people’s favourite pastime to hazard a guess about the opening day’s collections of the two films. But this Eid is different. The advance booking figures are so dismal that the trade wallahs are not even discussing the opening day’s expected figures! The talk in trade circles these days is only around how sad the situation is.
The dull response to Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, for a moment, is at least understandable though not completely. After all, both the heroes, Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, are not passing through the best phases of their careers. In fact, they are both burdened with a line of unsuccessful films in recent times. But the weak response at the advance booking counters for Maidaan is baffling. Hero Ajay Devgan’s last release, Shaitaan, has done excellent business and, in fact, it is still running in the cinemas. In spite of that, the sale of tickets of Maidaan, wherever plans have opened, is so slow that one is left wondering whether it is for real.
Of course, a couple of points which need to be mentioned here could serve to uplift the spirits of the trade people. For one, advance booking is not always a foolproof barometer of the potential of a film. Films have sometimes gone on to do well at the turnstiles after starting very slow. Secondly, mass-oriented films (like BMCM) could attract heavy footfalls in current booking even though advance booking has been below the mark. Thirdly, some films have it in their kundli to pick up phenomenally well after a couple of shows on the first day. Maybe that happens with Maidaan and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan.