The success of the Hollywood horror film Obsession has become a case study in world cinema, but in India, it has had an adverse effect on Hindi films. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap recently called out how theatre chains have been giving more shows to Obsession over
Hindi releases, including his film Bandar and films releases the past Friday – Main Vaapas Aaunga, Governor and others.
We spoke to trade experts on how this move impacts Hindi film industry and the business at the box office, and the consensus is that it boils down to what the audience wants. Trade analyst Komal Nahta says, “Nothing is coming in the industry except bad content. If Anurag Kashyap thinks it is because of Obsession that Bandar is not doing well, he should see the collections. Bandar is not doing well even otherwise, so the number of shows isn't going to make a difference. Critical acclaim is not the same as the box office, and when we talk about competition, we talk about box office. So, Obsession is not acting as an impediment to the running of Indian films at all.”
He adds, “If in two shows, they can't get houseful, what will they get in 20 shows? Half the shows will have to be canceled as there'll be no audience. There is nobody coming to watch the films, so get over the obsession of Hollywood films. It’s just to gain sympathy, you start blaming things that are doing well. Every film has its own life and potential. Your film is not doing well because it is not meant for the public.”
Imtiaz Ali, director of Main Vaapas Aaunga opines on the situation, saying, “These are business-oriented decisions. There is a policy for encouraging local produce, and there should also be a policy for encouraging local cinema. But there are arguments on both sides of the matter, and can’t be compared.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan opines it’s just the strategy of multiplexes that they will give more shows to the film that is doing better. “In a way, Anurag Kashyap is right as the business is ruthless. If a film doesn’t do well in the first two days, they reduce the shows drastically which doesn’t give time to a film to grow and let the word of mouth spread. The Hindi films deserve that time to grow and let the footfalls increase but the window to do that has reduced,” he says, adding that it is unfair for new releases as they aren’t getting the platform to prove themselves on their merit. “Theatre chains should realise that their main influx of content is coming from Hindi film industry, so you have to give them respect and commitment.”
Film distributor Akshaye Rathi says the rule here is simple: what the audience demands, they get. “The only entity in the entire value chain in the entertainment ecosystem that decides which film in which cinema and what screen with how many shows releases, is the audience. To say that Main Vaapas Aaunga didn't get as many shows as Obsession is unfair, then it’s also unfair that Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted 3D didn’t get as many shows as Main Vaapas Aaunga. Things don't work in a socialistic manner here. The programming of cinemas is done purely on the basis of the law of demand and supply and that keeps evolving day in and day out,” he says.
Rathi adds that if the films show occupancy, their shows will increase. “If Main Vaapas Aaunga or any other film have very good occupancy levels, cinemas across the country would increase the number of shows automatically, like they did for Haunted in the same week. So it's really not about what the theatres decide, but what the audience decides. There's no point in releasing a film that has 10% occupancy in 4000 screens, because it'll be an absolute disaster in the return on investment for the producer. It’s basic economics,” he adds.