Even celebs demanded refund of tickets: Cinemax
With theatres shut for three days after Bal Thackeray’s death, ‘JTHJ’ and ‘SOS’ business gets affected.
Diwali
releases — ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ and ‘Son of Sardaar’ — created fireworks
much before their release. Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn both stood up
for their films. However, both the films released to warm openings at
the box office. Unquestionably, both the production houses, Ajay Devgn
Films and Yash Raj Films were expecting the stimulated rise in the
collections after few days but the God had something else in store for
them. With the sudden demise of Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray the
whole of Maharashtra remained shut for three days. Reportedly, theatres
all over Maharashtra — Pune, Nasik, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara,
Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, Jalgaon and Mumbai — remained shut. The hopes
of making a good deal of collections, during the festive season fell
flat.
Manoj Desai, owner Gaiety-Galaxy and
Maratha Mandir, said, “I had distributed theatres to both films as I
was sure of a good collection from both ‘JTHJ’ and ‘SOS’. The theatres
had to be closed owing to the sudden demise of Bal Thackeray. However,
I am not too keen on discussing the losses incurred.”
Mumbai distributor Devendra Shah said,
“It is a simple calculation. During the weekend, films are expected to
turn houseful.” Giving an example of Diamond theatres at Borivali he
says, “‘JTHJ’ at the above theatres would have seen a packed theatre,
but owing to Balasaheb’s sad demise the film could not earn a single
penny. Similarly, Nizam and Vidharbha too brought in a huge loss to
both films. According to me, if ‘JTHJ’ suffered a loss of Rs 12 crore,
‘SOS’ must have had a loss of around Rs 7 crore. All over Maharashtra
there are more than 525 multiplexes which would have earned a huge
amount. Obviously, this loss to both the films has brought down their
respective collections.”
Girish
Wankhede of Cinemax says, “All over Maharashtra, Cinemax has a chain of
theatres with approximately 66 screens. There were a lot of celebrities
who had booked tickets as it was the festive season. To my surprise the
celebrities too asked for refunds along with the common junta. We have
lost more than Rs 1 crore. Also, the refund has been extended to one
and all from Monday.”
Lipika Varma
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