Baaghi 3 producer Sajid Nadiadwala yet to collect 40 crore from distributors?

The third installment of Sajid Nadiadwala's successful franchise, Baaghi 3 released on 6th March and despite being a non-holiday release, the film opened big at the box office. The action-packed extravaganza managed to mint Rs 92.31 crore in two few weeks before theatres across the country shut down to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

As the coronavirus pandemic forced the entire industry to shut down, it has been reported that owing to the lockdown, the makers of the film have yet to receive an estimated Rs 40 crore from the distributors.

A report in Bollywood Hungama stated that producer Sajid Nadiadwala and his studio partner have yet to receive the money from multiplex chains and other single screens. The theatre chains will reportedly transfer the money, once business goes back to normal.

The report also quoted a source saying, “It is usually a three to four-week clearance window, but since the national lockdown, the workings in the industry were halted, with cinema halls downing their shutters. The top four national multiplex chains – PVR, INOX, CINEPOLIS, and Carnival – will transfer the money to the stakeholders once the business is back to normal.”

The amount due to from the National Multiplex Chains is approximately Rs. 15 crores, while the other plexes and single screens are liable to pay around Rs. 20 to 25 crores, the total amounting to Rs 35 to 40 crores.

However, the producers are not putting any pressure on the national multiplex chains as well as the independent sub-distributors in the interiors to clear their dues due to the situation of chronic cash crunch in the country.

“It’s a long term association and the losses due to delay in payments will be made up for in the future slate of release for the studio. Sajid Nadiadwala, on the other hand, has got enough revenue from satellite, digital, and sale of theatrical rights to not just recover the budget, but also make profits,” the source added.