While the Indian Premier League and Bollywood association continues on its mutually beneficial path, Bollywood is not taking any chances with their releases clashing with any IPL fixtures. Film producers realize the folly of releasing their films to compete with the kind of free entertainment that will be beamed into the average Indian’s house regularly during the IPL tournament. If people have to choose between a Rs. 100 to Rs 200 movie ticket for a new movie and an evening of free entertainment before the TV starring their favourite cricket players from all over the world, well there would be no contest!

According to reports, Yash Raj Films’ production New York, due out on 8 May and starring John Abraham and Katrina Kaif, is the lone big film that will be released during the series. When the IPL is over, we will see a bunch of films hitting the theatres in late May and early June, including Eros International’s Kambhakht Ishq, produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, which is due out on 29 May.

Mahesh Ramanathan, chief operating officer of Reliance BIG Pictures was quoted in the cricket news as saying, “Generally, there is a tendency to postpone releases during the IPL. Cricket is the country’s most popular game and it means free entertainment on television and so the tendency to go to the movies is low.”

Last year’s films like Tashan and Bhootnath were released during the IPL which bombed and which may be preying on people’s minds now.

Gautam Dutta, chief executive of PVR’s Cinemedia, however takes the other view, that movies and international cricket can coexist and there should be stop of the flow of movie releases during the IPL. “There are a couple of big releases that are slated to open during IPL and people will watch movies if the content is there.”

He also spoke about the screening of matches in film theatres which is a popular concept. “We are in talks over running IPL matches in cinemas but BCCI doesn’t want to talk to the individual chains. It wants someone to come in and underwrite the entire business for all the cinemas,” he said. “We have been talking to the concerned parties about the rights for IPL in movie halls, but BCCI are not making any sense right now. The cost is extraordinary, but the negotiations are ongoing and will probably go on until the end,” he added.

Tushar Dhingra, chief operating officer of the cinema chain Adlabs also thinks that content is key: “Cinema attendance is as good as the releases,” he says “And there were some big hits released during this time last year. We believe there will be people seeking out movies and that small films will show.”

Well we shall see whether it is Bollywood or the IPL who wins out in the end, or if indeed they can both be winners!

Comments

Add New RSS

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

Newer news items:

Older news items: