Stree 2, Chhaava producer did ‘disservice’ to Bollywood by spending crores on block bookings, says trade analyst Komal Nahta: ‘Would you murder people to attract crowd in the theatres?’

He further elaborated on Fairdoon Shahryar’s podcast, “The newspapers now think a film can’t be a hit anymore. If every film is doing well, then there’s something wrong. Because Dinesh Vijan, you’ve drilled it into people’s heads that there’s nothing like a genuine hit anymore. His own Chhaava, a super-duper hit, is also being pointed fingers at: is it such a big hit? So you’ve done disservice to your film also.”

Nahata also blamed the industry practice of offering the ‘buy one get one’ scheme on movie tickets. “The public is now demanding it as a matter of right. ‘It’s not free, let’s not go.’ So you’ve ruined the whole system for your personal gain,” added Nahata, who claimed exhibitors reach out to him to stop this practice as the audience now waits a week or two to let these offers kick in. So none of the new films are able to secure a good opening at the domestic box office.

Tarun Mansukhani’s hit whodunit comedy Housefull 5, starring Akshay Kumar and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, also employed that tactic by offering the scheme on its first Tuesday itself. Last week, the two new releases — Ajay Devgn’s comedy Son of Sardaar 2 and Karan Johar-produced romantic drama Dhadak 2 — also offered the audience 50% discount using promo codes in order to combat the wave caused by Yash Raj Films’ romance Saiyaara and Hombale Films’ mythological animated film Mahavatar Narsimha.

Also Read — Dinesh Vijan on success of Stree 2 and Chhaavaa, says Vicky Kaushal’s Mahavatar will be a ‘world-class film’: ‘Distribution is God’

“This isn’t filmmaking, this isn’t film business. You call this your style of promotion? Would you also murder two people and attract crowd in the theatres then? You can’t change the definition of promotion just because you want to gather a crowd,” said Nahata, adding, “You’re a part of the industry. Don’t change the dynamics of the industry so much that other producers, distributors, and exhibitors have to pay such a huge price for it.”

Maddock Films’ next, Tushar Jalota’s romantic film Param Sundari, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor, is slated to release in cinemas on August 29.