Filmmakers Have A Death Wish
By Vinod Mirani
MUMBAI – The period of Shraddha and the Navaratras and the fortnight preceding Diwali is considered a very bad period for the release of new films in terms of business.
Traditionally, old hit films used to be re-released during this period in the hope that a good number of viewers would show up to keep the cinemas above the red zone.
The other alternative was to release dubbed films from the South. These films, which are as well or better than the Hindi films today, did not draw people at that time. They were called fillers, or alternatives to a cinema hall not screening any film at all. The show had to go on.
Of late, filmmakers have been challenging this age-old tradition, ignoring past records, and releasing their films during this month. Not one or two, but starting from October 6 up till November 3, as many as 26 films will have hit the cinemas.
Six films were released on October 6: ‘Mission Raniganj’, ‘Thank You for Coming’ and ‘Dono’. It did not matter that one of the films starred Akshay Kumar.
Five more hit the screens on October 13: ‘Dhak Dhak’, ‘Bhagwaan Bharose’, ‘Guthlee Ladoo’, ‘Darran Chhoo’ and ‘Hum Tumhe Chahte Hain’. October 20 saw the release of three films: ‘Ganapath’, ‘Yaariyan 2’ and ‘Pyaar Hai Toh Hai’.
‘Ganapath’ featured Tiger Shroff in the lead and one believed that he enjoyed some kind of following; sadly, it did not reflect in his film’s box-office figures as it struggled to collect in double digits even in its first week.
As this dull period peaks getting closer to Diwali, the number of releases increases. Seven films were slated for release on October 27: ‘Tejas’, ’12th Fail’, ‘Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video’, ‘Mujib’, ‘Pyaari’, ‘Mandali’, ‘Pagalpan Next Level’ and ‘Zindagi Zindabad’.
Finally, the pre-Diwali week, November 4, has a line-up of seven releases in ‘Aankh Micholi’, ‘UT69’, ‘Yaatris’, ‘Lakeerein’, ‘Three of Us’, ‘Prachand’ and ‘Hukus Bukus’.
Hoping for miracles? What else explains this suicidal release strategy? (IANS)
