How does it help to inflate box-office collections by doing block bookings of tickets of a film, as is being done these days?
– Block booking serves to massage the egos of the persons associated with the film because it gives the impression to the trade that the film has done well — at least, that’s what the persons associated with the film would like to believe. Of course, in reality, the trade people are not easy to fool or mislead because they know the facts on ground level. There’s another angle too. Since most of the film media people are generally irresponsible in disseminating information about film business figures and hence happily report the fake collections (sometimes for favours in return, and sometimes because they don’t have the wherewithal to verify the collections before reporting them), the public is also misled into believing that the film has performed the way the producers want people to feel. Occasionally, this misconception among people might prompt them to watch the ‘hit’ or ‘successful’ film, leading to more footfalls.
Producers used to ‘buy’ tickets of their own films in the 1980s and 1990s too. Then why is such a hue and cry being made about block bookings now?
– In the good old days, producers used to resort to ‘feeding’ in a couple of cinemas only. Block bookings today are on an altogether different level. For a recent film, the producers block-booked tickets worth Rs. 40 crore (net collections). In those days, producers used to ‘tear tickets’ worth, say, a few thousand rupees only.
What kind of opening will next week’s Chhaava take?
– Bumper!