The matter of show allotment between Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 (Hindi dubbed) and the due-for-release Baby John was finally resolved yesterday (December 19). Since Pushpa 2 is still going great guns at the box-office, its collections are expected to take a huge jump on December 25 owing to the Christmas holiday, which is also the day Baby John will hit the screens. At first, Anil Thadani, the all-India distributor of the Hindi dubbed version of the blockbuster Pushpa sequel, had made it clear to the multiplexes and the single-screen cinemas screening his film that they would not be allowed to reduce the number of shows of his film mid-week (read from December 25). This would’ve meant that Baby John would’ve had to have a fractured release because exhibitors were definitely not in a mood to reduce the number of shows of Pushpa 2 from today (Friday, December 20) when its third week has started. That being so, those exhibitors would have to screen Pushpa 2 in the same number of shows on December 25 and 26, the last two days of its third week. This would’ve automatically meant that Baby John would not get the optimum number of shows on its first two days. Effectively then, the whole purpose of releasing Baby John on a Wednesday, to take advantage of the festive occasion, would’ve been defeated.
Since PVR-Inox, the largest single multiplex chain in India, is the market leader among exhibitors, all the other chains as well as single-screen cinemas could not finalise their playing programmes and show allocations between the two films from December 25 till PVR-Inox finalised its own allotment. To further complicate matters, PVR-Inox is also the distributor of Baby John. If one were to go back a few weeks, one would recall the tension during the allotment of shows to Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, both of which had released on the festive occasion of Diwali. While Singham Again was released all over India by PVR-Inox for Jio, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 was distributed by Anil Thadani. The tension then also was palpable because PVR-Inox was playing a dual role — of the largest exhibition chain as well as the all-India distributor of Singham Again. Not just because PVR-Inox is the largest multiplex chain in India but also because it was distributing Singham Again, Anil Thadani must’ve definitely resented that Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 was shortchanged insofar as the number of shows in the first week was concerned. The tables have turned in the current case between Pushpa 2 and Baby John because Anil Thadani’s Pushpa 2 is a proven blockbuster of epic proportions while the box-office results of Baby John are still not known.
Anyway, Anil Thadani and Kamal Gianchandani of PVR-Inox deliberated to arrive at a settlement for showcasing of the two films from December 25. Rumours that the meeting between Gianchandani, Thadani and Murad Khetani (producer of Baby John) went on for hours together till well past midnight yesterday are baseless because no formal meeting ever took place. The matter was resolved over telephone itself! Thadani showed grace when he agreed to let PVR-Inox reduce the number of shows for Pushpa 2 from December 25, the day Baby John is scheduled to release. Of course, the consensus must not have been easy to reach.
According to the oral understanding, in multiplexes with two screens, Pushpa 2 (Hindi dubbed) will be given three regular shows (no morning/noon shows) with effect from December 25, the remaining shows to be shared by Baby John, Mufasa: The Lion King (Hindi dubbed or English) and Vanvaas. In three-screen multiplexes, the number of shows for Pushpa 2 would be five per day whereas in the case of 4-screen multiplexes, the daily number of shows for Pushpa 2 would be seven. Pushpa 2 will get 10 shows daily in 5-screen multiplexes. An important point to be noted is that the aforementioned number of shows may change — and Pushpa 2 may get more shows than decided — now that this week’s Vanvaas has performed very badly, and this week’s Mufasa: The Lion King is also not as strong as it was expected to be.
Another notable point is that several non-national multiplexes are not going to reduce the number of shows of Pushpa 2 from December 25 to accommodate Baby John with the optimum number of shows, for two reasons: Pushpa 2 has done outstanding business in the second week too and hence exhibitors expect it to shine in the third week, especially on December 24 (Christmas eve) and 25 (Christmas); secondly, in the third week, the sharing of net collections is more favourable for exhibitors than in the first week. In other words, exhibitors will get to keep a larger portion of the net collections of Pushpa 2 this (3rd) week (including on December 25 and 26) than of Baby John (first week).
All’s well, that ends well!
