It’s natural that everyone would want the best release date for their movie, but booking it two years in advance… is that ludicrous or a good business decision? According to back-to-back announcements this week, all but one big Friday of 2019 appears to be snapped up by Bollywood producers. This follows our findings a few weeks ago that the most-wanted release dates of 2018 were all booked.
Now, Republic Day, Holi, and Independence Day weekends in 2019 have been taken by Yash Raj Film, Akshay Kumar, and Karan Johar, respectively. Christmas and Eid are likely to be taken by Salman Khan. As of now, only Diwali 2019 seems to be a free slot.
Earlier, producer Ramesh Taurani had said that announcing release dates in advance helped avoid a clash between production houses. Producer Anand L Rai had also said that such ‘advance booking’ of dates prevented “unnecessary complications or injustice to anyone”.
On the need to announce films so many months in advance, especially for festive weekends, filmmaker Anurag Basu says, “Nowadays, movies have become like an event and a festival. Just like people plan a vacation, they also plan which movies they want to watch in a year. The days are gone when you’d decide in the evening that ‘let’s go watch a 9pm show’. Hence, even filmmakers are creating that space for the audience to plan.”
A TRILOGY ...A FANTASY ADVENTURE....A LABOUR OF LOVE.....”BRAHMĀSTRA” pic.twitter.com/8yQ2Y0yWaD
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) October 11, 2017
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “It’s always good to lock the date [in advance]. With films clashing at the box office, producers feel it’s important to make an official announcement and lock the date.”
The film fraternity sees a good strategy in this move. Film critic Omar Qureshi says that booking long holiday weekends has been a tradition worldwide. “Festive weekends give a boost to movies, as families and children are keen to watch films then,” he adds.
Asked if it’s possible to sustain the hype for such a long time, Basu says, “Earlier, it was always the case that if a film was made well, it would do well. But now, if a film releases on a good date, it would do well.” He adds that producers and distributors base their opening weekend expectations on certain calculations, and it’s up to the director to deliver the goods.
Qureshi points out, “Hype is the bugle player walking in the front of a marriage party, but to make [a film] work, the compatibility of the product and the audiences is essential.”
For the films releasing next year, shooting has already started in some cases; those announced for 2019 are likely to go on the floors next year.
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