The timing of a film’s release is very important and can often make or break a film. That is why, producers of big films try to avoid a clash at the ticket windows. It is not rare for a producer to avoid a clash of his film with another equally big film even after both the films have been announced for release on the same date.
Akshay Kumar shifted the release of his Pad Man only because he did not want to come in direct opposition of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat. Bhushan Kumar, Allu Arvind and Aman Gill postponed the release of their Shehzada by a week, only because Pathaan was still going super-strong at the turnstiles.
There are a number of other examples of producers making conscious efforts to avoid face-offs at the ticket windows.
The release timing of this week’s Ghoomer could not have been more wrong. It has hit the screens just a week after Gadar 2, and it doesn’t need to be overemphasised that the latter film is still on a record-breaking spree. The whole nation seems to have been mesmerised by the Gadar Ek Prem Katha sequel. So magical was the charm of Gadar 2 that those connected with Ghoomer should have acted swiftly on the very Friday Gadar 2 opened to a tumultuous response, and should have postponed Ghoomer. For, right on the day of its release, it was clear to the trade that Gadar 2 was unstoppable. That’s the only reason why the producers of Gujarati film 3 Ekka postponed its release by a week — from today (18th August) to 25th August.
What then prevented the makers and distributors of Ghoomer from postponing its release? Surely, they were aware that with the Gadar 2 fever at its peak, their Ghoomer would find it difficult to get good showcasing in cinemas. They should’ve also guessed that their film would not be the first choice for the public because Gadar 2 in its second week was still going to be a formidable opposition to their film.
It’s unfortunate that producers take months, sometimes years, to make a movie but rush with its release as if the income-tax department would raid their premises if they delayed it by a few weeks. The argument, often put forth by producers and distributors, that there was no alternate date to release their film, holds no water.
Even if it entails additional expenditure (in terms of interest on investment), postponing a film’s release can never be a costly proposition if the release otherwise is a haphazard one. The makers of Ghoomer could’ve opted for, say, September 1 as the new release date because there’s no big film slated for release that day. The fear of Jawan a week later was a much lesser devil than the sword of Gadar 2 already hanging on Ghoomer. Any distributor, who understands the game, would know that a release without a major opposition is far better than an opposition in the second week. And the opposition of Gadar 2, even in its second week, is more formidable than what the opposition of Jawan would have been had Ghoomer released a week before Jawan.
Clearly, Ghoomer will lose out simply because it was probably treated like an assembly line product rather than with love and care. Distribution may sometimes be a routine job but every once in a while, there comes a well-made film like Ghoomer which offers entertainment, and all it needs is the love and care of distributors and exhibitors.
Clearly, had producers R. Balki and Abhishek Bachchan, and PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment, the distributor of Ghoomer, paused and thought out of the box, the box-office for their cricket film would’ve played out differently — very differently!