One would normally club a flop film and tension together. But two hit films are giving exhibitors across India sleepless nights. With 83 slated for release tomorrow (24th December), multiplexes and single-screen cinemas are in a flux as they do not know on what basis to allot shows to the highly anticipated film. The problem has arisen because the two major films released last week are doing exceptionally well. Both, Hollywood’s Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Hindi dubbed version of Tollywood’s Pushpa: The Rise Part 1, have collected such impressive figures in the first week (which will get over today) that it would be heartless to either discontinue them or drastically reduce their shows in the second week. But without doing that, the exhibitors might not be able to do justice to Kabir Khan’s 83 because that film is also carrying extraordinary reports.
Not just that, the distributors of 83 (Reliance Entertainment and PVR) are insisting that their cricket film be given at least four of the daily five shows (or three of the daily four shows) in the single-screen cinemas being finalised for the film. With just one show left for another film, single-screen cinemas, which are screening both last week’s films, do not know which to discontinue and which to continue alongside 83. Multiplexes are in no better position as the distributors of the three films fight for showcasing.
Frankly, while the exhibition sector was very confident about the Spider-Man film’s stupendous success, it was not prepared for the runaway success of the Hindi dubbed version of Pushpa. And there were reasons for not having the same confidence in Pushpa (dubbed). For one, nobody expected Allu Arjun to be such a big draw among the Hindi film-going audience. Secondly, no exhibitor would’ve imagined that the film’s story would appeal so beautifully to the Hindi-speaking public too.
What makes matters even more difficult for the exhibitors is that the distributors of both the films released last week are big. Spider-Man: No Way Home comes from Sony while Pushpa (dubbed) is being distributed by AA Films. Antagonising any of them could prove to be detrimental to the interests of the exhibitors concerned because that might result in the two distributors not giving them their next film for screening.
That’s not all. The following Friday (31st December) will see the release of Jersey, another film which is very hot in exhibition circles. The distributors of 83 are pressurising exhibitors to reserve the maximum number of shows (in some cases, even all the shows) for 83 in the second week too. But doing that would pose a double problem for the exhibitors — not being able to screen Jersey or having to remain content with screening Jersey in lesser number of shows than what it deserves, and antagonising the distributor of Jersey, who would be releasing RRR just a week thereafter, on 7th January, 2022. It does not need to be underlined that RRR is S.S. Rajamouli’s film, and the expectations from the same are gigantic after Bahubali and Bahubali 2: The Conclusion. If the number of shows given by an exhibitor to Jersey are not good enough, the distributor would, quite obviously, want to ‘teach’ the said exhibitor a lesson at the time of release of RRR in the following week by not giving the screening rights of the same. And if the pre-release reports of 83 are anything to go by, it is set for a long run in the cinemas. And yes, Spider-Man may continue to weave its web of success in its third week too. Likewise, Pushpa (dubbed) might also not exhaust its run in cinemas at the end of two weeks.
This is how hits can spell tension sometimes!