After the bombing of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan, what are your thoughts on star prices?
– Star prices are not high, they are very very high. And this has been the case since time immemorial. The bombing of the two Eid releases — BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and MAIDAAN — only underlines this harsh reality. Having said that, let me add that in spite of stars charging exorbitantly, producers are queueing up to sign them. So you can’t expect stars to reduce their remunerations. Nobody is so conscientious that he would of his own volition announce a cut in his fees. They will continue to demand sky-high prices along as producers are willing to pay them. And this is happening because saleable stars are in short supply.
Why did Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 not open to even average houses today? After all, Love Sex Aur Dhokha had done well at the box-office.
– LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA was released 14 years ago — in 2010. Fourteen years is too long a gap for benefits to accrue from the first film. Besides, the promotion of LSD 2 is not half as good as it ought to have been.
Distributors of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan fought tooth and nail with exhibitors and chain holders for showcasing of their films last week. But ultimately, both the films fared so miserably that their shows had to be reduced and re-distributed among the already running films. What would you call this situation?
– A joke… a BIG JOKE. Just goes to underline how far removed from reality the distributors of both the films were. Frankly, showcasing becomes an ego issue when two big-budget films are pitted against each other. Each distributor thinks, the public will patronise his film if he has more number of shows. But the fact is that from the Friday on which the films are released, the public doesn’t care who gets how many shows. What they look out for is entertainment. They will patronise the film which offers them more entertainment. Nothing else matters. N-O-T-H-I-N-G E-L-S-E!  Â