There is palpable excitement at single-screen cinemas as the owners count the hours to Sooryavanshi's release. With their business having nose-dived during the past 18 months, the exhibitors are counting on the Akshay Kumar-starrer to help them bounce back. However, the scene is starkly different at multiplexes across the country, including Inox, PVR Cinemas and Cinepolis, which have yet to open the advance booking for the Diwali offering. mid-day has learnt that the exhibitors and makers are negotiating the revenue-sharing ratio of the film's first and second-week collections.

When the Rohit Shetty film was slated to release in March 2020, the two parties had agreed to the standard revenue-sharing ratio, where producers get 52 per cent of the first-week collections. “During the pandemic, Reliance Entertainment waited for 19 months, supporting the cinemas. One good turn deserves another. They are not wrong in asking for 60-40 revenue-sharing in the first week, and 55-45 in the following week,” says Komal Nahta.

Trade analyst Atul Mohan seconds Nahta, noting that Sooryavanshi was one of the few films that did not take the OTT route. “The red carpet should be rolled out for the team.”

The other bone of contention is the sharing of screens between the cop caper and the Hollywood superhero movie, Eternals. “The exhibitors want to give an equal number of shows to Eternals, which is not fair. They should give priority to Rohit who urged the Maharashtra CM to reopen cinemas,” he says. 

Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi views the negotiation as a necessary step. “When the industry reboots like it's doing now, the commercial terms are reset and big films like Sooryavanshi set the terms for the way forward. Producers and exhibitors have suffered [during the pandemic]. But this is not a situation for fans to be worried about. Sooryavanshi will open on a strong note.”

When mid-day reached out to Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR, he declined to comment. Shibasish Sarkar, CEO, Reliance Entertainment, Mayank Shroff, general manager, Cinepolis, and Rajender Singh Jyala, chief programming officer, Inox, remained unavailable for comment.