Some things refuse to change in Bollywood. Call it a hasty call or the fact that there are lack of options available but this Friday is turning out to be yet another instance at the box office where producers are trying to edge each other out by releasing as many as seven Hindi releases in one go. These are Dobaara – See Your Evil, Dear Maya, Hanuman Da Damdaar, Sweetiee Weds NRI, Mirror Game – Ab Khel Shuru, Flat 211 and Bachche Kachche Sachche.
One just can’t fathom how a decision like this can ever turn out to be fruitful for anyone, considering the fact that such a rush has time and again only managed to dissuade the audience instead of attracting them to theaters. Such huge count of releases has always meant dilution of awareness, promotion and marketing efforts. Moreover, it is also a foregone conclusion that there won’t be adequate screen count available.
What makes it even more difficult for the Hindi films to make an impression this week is the arrival of Hollywood flick Baywatch. Not that it is a huge brand in India a la Fast & The Furious or Mission Impossible, or even a fair franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean series. Still, it is a brand with some sort of recall value (due to the TV series Baywatch that was a success years ago). Also, Priyanka Chopra has been promoting it extensively and though she is the not the central character here, her presence still promises better pull than what new Hindi releases could expect at the Box Office this weekend.
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This isn’t all as holdover releases like Sachin – A Billion Dreams, Hindi Medium and Baahubali 2 [Hindi] would find some share of audiences continuing to come their way for yet another week which means we are looking at practically 11 films running in theaters!
Well, as stated right at the beginning, some things refuse to change in Bollywood!
Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder