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Guzaarish could open only from the night shows of Friday (19th November) in 13 properties of Big Cinemas in North India. The morning, noon, afternoon and evening shows at these 13 properties had to be cancelled because UTV held back the prints of 13 cinemas of Big in North India owing to a dispute with just one cinema of Big in Jalandhar, and released the thirteen prints later in the day only. The dispute arose for a property which was till now owned by Cinemax and changed hands just recently, having been acquired by Big. Since the contract between UTV and Big cinemas for Guzaarish stipulated that any new property of Big would not get the benefit of entertainment tax (which is zero in Punjab), UTV took the stand that the erstwhile Cinemax property was a new property. However, Big argued that the clause in the contract related to a new property built or acquired from a non-multiplex chain after the zero tax period started. Since this particular cinema in Jalandhar was neither newly built nor acquired from a non-multiplex chain but rather was acquired from another multiplex chain (Cinemax), it meant nothing for UTV. In other words, UTV wouldn’t stand to lose anything as Cinemax would not keep the notional entertainment tax of that particular cinema. Since the total number of cinemas of Big and Cinemax remained the same although their individual numbers changed, Big declined to let UTV take the benefit of zero tax. It was only in the evening that the prints were made available by UTV to 13 properties of Big Cinemas and they could be screened only from the night shows!
