Dibakar Banerjee says LSD 2 had a limited release as ‘huge film that didn’t do well’ pre-booked all the screens: ‘It’s all about power’

The films were released just 10 days after the big Eid holiday clash between Bade Miyan Chote Miya, starring Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan. Both movies have had a terrible run at the box office. Although Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2 has earned rave reviews from critics and its target audience, the movie debuted with just Rs 15 lakh on day one.

Addressing this fight, Dibakar said, “Sometimes, a film has that transgressive quality which transgresses its immediate audience by some quirk of fate, destiny and real situation. Sometimes, through brute force. If you have the money. For example, what is happening right now. LSD 2 has released today, there is another film that has released today, and the ground reality is that about two weeks ago another huge film released, that unfortunately didn’t do well for itself.

“But it had booked many cinema theatres in advance. It had spent that money, so now those screens can’t be used, or one is still figuring out what to do with those screens, someone must be making furious calls in closed rooms in terms of adjusting monies, figuring out what the deal is. But those screens are booked, so there are only that many screens left for LSD and other films to come and find the best screens. So, it is also about power. Who is more powerful?”

Dibakar said that if one knows how to reach to a wider audience, they will plan accordingly. But if one is not ‘competent’, then one will do something that is “slightly obsolete.”

“One hallmark of Bollywood is that we are always a little obsolete. It is very consistent, we were never ahead, we were never too behind. Just obsolete enough to make sure we never start a trend, we always follow. That space of obsolescence is also trying to protect mediocrity, because we need many, many products and all of them can’t be quality. So, we need people to get used to mediocrity, so that they consume and get inside that kind of a narrative. What that does is, if something is trying to buck the trend, it has to work despite everything.”

The filmmaker then gave an example of what he is often told in the industry about his films, which don’t conform to mainstream commercial cinema tropes. “I frequently get told one thing, ‘Sir this is a Monday film, it will open automatically, marketing mein iska kuch hai nahi, ye word of mouth jayega and Monday ko aise khulegi.’ So, woh aise he khulti hai phir. That’s what happens. Last but not the least, sometimes you are just plain unlucky, like what happened to me on Tees.” Dibakar was making a reference to his abandoned Netflix film, which was dropped by the streamer despite being completed.

“One thing to beat it all the time is to not be obsolete, is to be planned, know what to do. Very few producers do that, Ekta Kapoor is one of them, who is always trying to buck the trend. She knows that’s where the business lies. Even Aamir Khan, if he is doing something like a Peepli Live, he will ensure that it gets that heft, that respect. The rest of us have to fight it out,” he added.