Mumbai16 minutes agoAuthor: Ashish Tiwari
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Actors and producers buy tickets in bulk or book the entire theatre on the first day of the release of their films, this is called corporate booking.
'One day I was sitting in my office. People from Shahrukh Khan fan club came to me. They said that Pathan is releasing, we have to book the whole theatre. I said give me the money and book it. They gave me the money and booked the whole theatre.'
Manoj Desai, owner of many theatres including the famous Maratha Mandir in Mumbai, told us this. You must be thinking what is the truth in this. Actually, this directly points towards black marketing of box office. Big actors and producers buy tickets in bulk or book the entire theatre on the first day of the release of their films. This is called corporate booking. By doing this, they create an atmosphere for their films, which later decides the verdict of the film.
This illegal business has been common in the film industry since the 70s and 80s, not just today. Film critic Taran Adarsh said that today the measure of success is measured by box office numbers. Artists are charging so much that they have to adopt such tricks to show their value. Now the biggest question is whether the audience feels cheated because they are not able to get tickets to watch the film on the first day.
Today, through this special story, we will talk about the black marketing of box office numbers in the film industry. Apart from this, we will also talk about the wrong environment created in the industry and the audience through paid and negative reviews.
In this regard, we spoke to Taran Adarsh, one of the biggest film critics and trade experts of the country, exhibitor Akshay Rathi, film director Vivek Sharma and Executive Director of Maratha Mandir Theatre Manoj Desai.
Taran Adarsh said, 'When the issue of corporate booking comes to the fore, the image of the actors gets damaged a lot. The wrong message also goes to the audience. Due to this, the audience feels cheated.'
When and where did the trend of corporate booking start?
Taran Adarsh said, 'It is not that this practice has started just a few years ago. This used to happen in the 70s, 80s and 90s as well. There used to be a very big actor in the 70s-80s. His career graph was going down a bit. Suddenly, his comeback film was released. On the first day, housefull boards were seen hanging outside the theatres, although there was very little audience inside.
When I asked the same star about this a few years later, he got angry. He said, 'Why are you asking me this question, why don't you ask others?' Seeing his anger, I understood that he was the one who made the mistake.
Taran Adarsh said that in the 70s-80s it was not called corporate booking but 'feeding'.
Shahrukh Khan fan club booked theatres during Pathan and Jawan
We asked Manoj Desai, owner of Maratha Mandir and Gaiety Galaxy theatre, if it ever happens that a group comes and books the entire theatre? Manoj Desai said, 'It happens many times. During Pathan and Jawaan, Shahrukh Khan's fan club had booked the entire theatre.'
Why is the need for corporate booking arising?
Taran Adarsh said, 'The actors who are charging huge fees in crores have to show numbers in return. Apart from this, there is also a competition to outdo each other. Today, the measure of success is measured more by box office numbers than acting. If a film is good, but it does not earn well, then it is considered a flop film.
On the other hand, if the concept of a movie is third class but its box office collection is strong, then such a movie gets the title of superhit. In such a situation, everyone's eyes are on the opening day collection. If the opening day is good, then the atmosphere is created for the movie. This is why actors adopt all these tricks after telling their team. However, it is not that all actors do this.
Vivek Sharma directed the film Bhootnath starring Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan.
Actors ask to book theatres in exchange for fees
Exhibitor Akshay Rathi told a different thing about corporate booking. He said, 'You must know that actors promote many brands. Sometimes they take half the fees from those brand companies, in return when their film is released, they ask the same companies to buy the first day tickets. The actors then ask the companies to distribute all the tickets among their employees.'
A different game was going on in the 60s-70s, Manoj Kumar and Raj Kapoor used to buy tickets of each other's films
Manoj Desai told that in the 60s and 70s, a different game was played. At that time, Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar's films used to release together. Both the actors used to buy a lot of tickets of each other's films.
Now why did they both do this, Manoj Desai explains, 'One day I asked Raj Kapoor why do you buy tickets of Manoj Kumar's films. He said that this is business. I buy tickets of Manoj Kumar's films and sell them at cheap rates in front of theatres and advertise that his film is not strong, so tickets are available at low prices. Manoj Kumar does the same thing with my films.'
Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar were among those select actors who used to act and also tried their hand at direction occasionally.
Actors should control their fees
What steps should be taken to stop corporate booking? Taran Adarsh said, 'Actors should first think about their fees. It should not happen that you charge Rs 35 crore and the film does not even get an opening of Rs 3 crore. In such a situation, to justify their fees and value, these actors, in connivance with the producers, start adopting tactics like corporate booking.'
The trick of luring the audience to show the film also started
A new trend is being seen right now- BOGO (BUY ONE-GET ONE FREE) which means buy one ticket and get one free. Taran Adarsh said that this is the most dangerous thing. You are luring the audience in the name of watching the film.
Everyone you see is roaming around pretending to be a reviewer, throw biscuits at them and they will start wagging their tails
Nowadays the trend regarding movie reviews has also changed. Some reviewers judge a film as good or bad keeping in mind their own benefit. Recently, the makers of the film Kalki had also prepared to take legal action against some reviewers.
Taran Adarsh says about this, 'Earlier, selected film critics were called for reviews. They were associated with some good publications. Their reviews were very important. Today, 300-400 people come to review. Whoever you see is roaming around as a reviewer. Even though their reach is more, it is not that their credibility will also be according to that.
I had given a negative review of Adipurush. Some people felt bad about this. They were all self-claimed reviewers. They started following me.
Just a few days ago, Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff's film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was released. I was watching the film sitting with the producer. As soon as the film ended, I told him not to expect much from it. I did not say that the film is a disaster, but I definitely said that it could have been made better. When I posted a review of the film, some people started following me again. It is possible that biscuits were thrown in front of them, that is why they started following me wagging their tails.
This Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff starrer was made at a cost of Rs 350 crores but could make a total business of only Rs 102 crores.
Paid youtubers who do reviews should stop entertaining
Director Vivek Sharma slammed the so-called film critics. He said, 'There are many film critics who are associated with some production house behind the scenes. They do not give their films less than 3.5 stars. These critics are completely sold out. On top of that, small YouTubers have also emerged after 2020. Most of them review films for money and mislead the audience.
Today's youth watches and follows them in large numbers, so they should maintain their credibility. The industry should also work more on their content and story, and not waste their money and capacity by entertaining them.
Hired people are called and they create chaos in the theatre
Manoj Desai said that there are people in the industry who try to bring others down to show themselves ahead. He said, 'You won't believe it, there are many film makers and actors who bring people for Rs. 300-500 and send them inside the theatre and force them to do negative hooting.
These hired people start abusing the film and the actors inside the theatre itself. Due to this, the real audience also starts thinking that the film is really bad, that is why people are showing so much anger. This creates a wrong atmosphere regarding the film.
Shahrukh and Prabhas fans clashed
Prabhas's film Salaar and Shahrukh Khan's film Donkey were released simultaneously in December 2023. There was a lot of debate on social media regarding the collection of both the films.
Shahrukh's fans used to say that Donkey was ahead, while Prabhas' fans were seeing Salaar taking the lead. Now in this struggle, the audience was confused as to which of these films they should watch. Due to the clash of both the films, the box office numbers got divided. Both the films suffered losses.
The thing is that cinema lovers get upset in this tussle, they don't understand on which movie it would be better to spend money.
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Graphics- Kunal Sharma
