A grand showdown at the box office is set to enthral cinephiles! Two of Bollywood’s most anticipated titles, ‘Singham Again’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ are releasing on November 1. Ahead of the real clash, the battle between the titles has already commenced over screen allocation. While Rohit Shetty has managed to convince major theatres to allocate 60% of screens to them, T-series ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ has approached the Competition Commission of India.
As per a report by Indian Express, as exhibitors and distributors fret over screen allocation, Rohit Shetty’s title has gained an upper hand. A source informed the outlet, “PVR Pictures, the distributor of Singham Again, has allocated over 60% of shows in PVR Inox theatres to the film. Furthermore, certain single-screen theatres have been asked to dedicate all shows to Singham Again, with some allowed to screen Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 only in early morning slots.” Notably, PVR INOX is the largest theatre chain in India.
Following this, T-series has approached the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging that ‘Singham Again’ indulging in unfair practices. Moreover, the production house is seeking a 50-50 screen allocation for both films. The banner has approached the body seeking intervention as CCI is responsible for promoting economic growth and consumer welfare through healthy competition.
Meanwhile, the outlet also quoted an industry expert weighing in on title clashes. Film clashes are not new and the producers try to gain the upper hand by convincing exhibitors and distributors. Film expert Girish Johar said, “The clash is nothing new in the industry. It’s been ages since we’ve seen films clashing on big weekends and festivals. The point here is that it all depends on demand and supply. By and large, we have multiplexes that do flexible programming. So, one may use their might on the first two days, but thereafter it’s the content. Multiplexes automatically change their shows if the other film is not doing well.”
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Citing precedence of a previous CCI intervention, Girish Johar revealed, “The last time something like this happened (in 2012), they didn’t say anything. They said let market forces decide. At the end of the day, even if it does intervene, it has to consider a lot of things, like the cost of Singham Again is much higher than Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.”
Meanwhile, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ is led by Kartik Aaryan alongside Vidya Balan and Madhuri Dixit. Joining Aaryan is Triptii Dimri as his love interest. Additionally, Vijay Raaz plays a key role in the film while Rajpal Yadav returns as the sidekick.
On the flip side, ‘Singham Again’ stars Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, and Arjun Kapoor. Notably, the film will also star Akshay Kumar from ‘Sooryavanshi’ and Ranveer Singh from ‘Simmba.’