The loss is ours if we don't screen 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil': Delhi cinema halls
Niharika Lal | TNN | Oct 11, 2016, 01.00 AM IST
Cinema hall owners and film exhibitors usually earn a bomb during the Diwali week every year, with big-ticket, marquee Bollywood releases. But this year, fireworks in Bollywood have made a noise even before Diwali. The Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) recently announced a ban on Pakistani actors, and now, the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India (COEAI), a collective of single screen owners in west India, is toying with the idea of not screening films featuring Pakistanis.
However, exhibitors in Delhi say that Diwali is the strongest week of the year, and this time, it is going to be "huge" because Ajay Devgn's 'Shivaay' and Karan Johar's 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' are releasing on the same day. There's no question, they say, of not showing 'ADHM' (which stars Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan) just because it has a Pakistani actor in it. Delhi exhibitors and multiplex owners also say that they are not part of the COEAI.
'Will screen films unless an official ban is imposed'
Exhibitors in Delhi tell us that there have been no internal discussions about not screening any films, and any such decision would cause a major loss to the industry. Yogesh Raizada, corporate head, Wave Cinemas, says, "Why would we not screen movies? It's a Karan Johar film - isn't the investment in the movie that of an Indian? We will show the film in our cinemas across all territories unless there is a blanket ban on the film or the government decides to stop screening of all such films. Unless we find ourselves in such an impossible situation, the films will be screened."
Cinema Owners' Association of India who?
The Delhi exhibitors also tell us that they are not part of any association that has decided to take such an action. Tinku Singh, group president and chief strategy officer, SRS Cinemas, tells us, "I'm not aware of the existence of any such association. There are several such associations - it might be a Maharashtra association. As far as my understanding goes, none of the Delhi exhibitors or owners are part of any such body. We are part of the Multiplex Association of India and we have raised several issues, including entertainment tax etc, but not about something that will harm our own business."
Exhibitors say that the buzz around 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' is good and it will be their loss if they don't run the film, since fans will find some other way of watching it. As Tinku Singh says, "Cinemas earn a bomb during this festival, and it's not the Diwali day, but the Diwali week, that rewrites box office history. The festive releases are the ones that tickets are sold out for days in advance. Agar hum yeh film nahin dikhayenge toh kya dikhayenge?"
Even as major chains like PVR and Cinepolis refused to come on record about the issue, sources told us that since Diwali is a bonanza weekend, this is now a do or die situation - release the film or suffer major losses. Industry insiders say that even though multiplexes are fairly confident about releasing the film, the pressure to bow down to the demands of local political parties is increasing. However, nobody is in the mood to take a stand since it is a national issue, and unless the I&B Ministry puts a blanket ban on releasing films with Pakistani artists, 'ADHM' will indeed see a release.
Last week, a meeting was held in Mumbai to sort out the issue and there were representatives from single screens, but no representatives from multiplexes were in attendance.
A source adds, "We have a meeting on October 14, which we might or might not attend. But the members of the Multiplex Association of India are well connected people, they are not the sort who will be willing to bend. They will sort this out."
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Office-bearers of COEAI, meanwhile, held a meeting on Friday to discuss the issue, but were unable to come to a conclusion. Nitin Datar, its president, told us, "The COEAI is a body of single-screen owners in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Gujarat. We had a meeting with the office-bearers on Friday, and our next meeting is on October 14 with the executive committee. The meeting will be attended by multiplex owners, producers and distributors. The agreements have been signed, so if we don't release the film, the distributors will claim losses from the exhibitors. But if we release the film and local parties vandalise theatres, who should be held responsible for that? It's a really tricky situation for us and we have to find a solution."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/The-loss-is-ours-if-we-dont-screen-Ae-Dil-Hai-Mushkil-Delhi-cinema-halls/articleshow/54781157.cms
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