Do you feel, Fighter will open big?
– Yes, it will open very big. It has a formidable cast, its teaser is breathtaking, and its songs are being loved. Besides, we will have a big-budgeted and big star cast film releasing after a gap of some weeks. So the hunger to see a larger-than-life film would be immense.
Can’t the clash between Singham Again and Pushpa 2: The Rule be averted? We all know the tension which exhibitors and the distributors of Dunki and Salaar had to go through in the days leading up to their release on 21st/22nd December, 2023.
– The clash seems to be unavoidable because the scheduled week of release of the two films has two major holidays — Independence Day (Thursday, 15th August) which is when the films will hit the screens, and Raksha Bandhan festival (Monday, 19th August). I don’t think, the producers of the two aforementioned films would like to forgo such a phenomenal week.
I’ve heard of this new concept of corporate bookings. What does it mean?
– It’s not very new. Producers/stars book tickets of their own films in bulk and distribute them among employees of big corporate houses. In this way, they are assured of bigger box-office collections officially even if that means buying tickets and distributing them for free. Of course, many of the corporate employees (who get free tickets) may decide to not go to watch the film. That’s how the show may be, say, 80-85% full on paper but barely 40-45% full actually. It is mostly a few top stars who resort to this gimmick because that’s how they make their brand value (for endorsement assignments) soar higher or avoid it from falling down! In a way, it is nothing short of a racket.
