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Satyameva Jayate 2 vs Antim Trade Talk: Things heat up as distributors start blocking shows in single screens
It's going to be Salman Khan vs John Abraham at the box office this November and things are already heating up in the exhibition sector. Here's all you need to know
The industry is slowly getting back on track as the things are heating up for the release of Sooryavanshi. As the trade is recovering, so are the old tricks of doing business as the distributors have started putting rigid terms and conditions for the single screen owners. The first big clash of the year will be in the last week of November as John Abraham’s vigilante actioner, Satyameva Jayate 2 locks horns with Salman Khan and Aayush Sharma’s Antim: The Final Truth.
An insider informs that distributor Anil Thadani started the process of blocking screens of Satyameva Jayate 2 from Mid-October, when he organized a 20-minute special preview of the film for exhibitors. “Thadani has shown ample confidence in the content of the film and hence started booking the screens much in advance. Getting back to the old trick of clubbing Raees with Bahubali 2, Anil Thadani is now signing a multi-film contract by clubbing Satyameva Jayate 2 with KGF 2 among others,” a source told us, adding further, “He has asked for complete showcasing at single screens in the interiors as he believes the film has tremendous appeal for that spectrum of audience.”
Zee Studios has been rather slow in getting things started for Antim. “With Satyameva Jayate 2 team playing on the front foot, the distribution team of Zee Studios too has started the process of screen booking through their local offices. There are some territories where the distributor office of Antim and RRR is the same. Hence, the local offices too are clubbing Antim with RRR and asking for either complete showcasing or show sharing in the ratio 3:1 in their favor. The other local offices of Zee are clubbing Antim with their respective slate of releases,” the source added.
As far as multiplexes are concerned, there isn’t much of an ado as there are enough screens and shows for both the films. The battle to get a better deal lies in the single screens and interestingly, both Satyameva Jayate 2 and Antim have catered to that segment of audience. “While the genre of SMJ 2 is completely mass oriented and has the franchise value too, Antim has benefited from Salman Khan’s presence. It’s a decision that every exhibitor has to make based on their market and business acumen,” explained the source.
We are sure, by November 25, both films will get the requisite showcasing that it’s in the need of and there will be proper distribution of shows. Anil Thadani and Zee have a strong network of distribution, and things will be settled on the table in the weeks going forward.
What does the author have to say on this fight for single screens?
Two distributors fighting to get maximum showcasing in single screens is nothing new for the Hindi film industry. The arm-twisting tactics, and multi-film contracts are common in clashes, which results in the things a rather dirty turn putting exhibitors in a catch 22 scenario. In major cases, it’s the distributor with a powerful line up who scores over the other, with exhibitors picking films based on the line up and not the potential of that particular film. The author believes that the exhibition and distribution sector functions like a hand in glove and the distributors need their single screens as much as the exhibitors need the content.
Both RRR and KGF 2 are magnum opus, and will require to conquer each and every single screen going forward to do good business. In most cases, the exhibitors who even go otherwise in a clash, manage to get content, irrespective of the stand taken in the past. Hence, it’s important for exhibitors to go by their gut feel and pick up content that they feel is best suited for their property, without keeping the line up going forward. No one understands the audience of a particular region better than the exhibitor. Even theirs is a position of power and that shouldn’t be undermined under any circumstances.
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