The last two weeks have seen a stellar comeback for Indian cinema, with films such as Gadar 2, OMG2 and Jailer raking in the moolah. However, for films such as Ghoomer that are made on a smaller budget, the challenge of competing against big-budget blockbusters looms large. Earlier this year, Zwigato and Bheed also suffered a similar fate when they faced a box-office clash with Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.

Trade analyst and producer Girish Johar says, “Strong word of mouth plays a major role in such cases. Even if a film is small, it can be saved from getting crushed under a big banner if the content is good.” He adds, “Exhibitors also want to have the scope of encashing. So, small films do get bottlenecked at times. If huge films like OMG2 and Gadar 2 are released, it is a golden period for them (exhibitors) to earn more by giving them more screens.”

Trade analyst Atul Mohan adds, “The market is mostly dominated by multiplexes and they believe that the cinema business is star-driven.”

Ghoomer director R Balki weighs in on the situation and shares, “We are aware that our film does not have enough screens right now, because of the OMG 2 and Gadar 2 fever. Had we waited, I would have had to release it in January next year to avoid a clash. It wouldn’t have been any different if it was released two weeks later because of Jawan and then the 2023 Cricket World Cup.”

Kamal Giachandani, CEO, PVR, says they are “judicious in terms of allocation”. He adds, “We look at the demand and decide which film would be shown more. Ghoomer has adequate showings.”

Joginder Mahajan, film distributor and general secretary, Motion Pictures Association, says, “For screen allocation, businessmen are not interested in knowing how a film is. In many PVRs, they screen a film on a Friday and if they see only five-six people in the hall, they discontinue the shows. Ghoomer ko ek-do shows isliye mil gaye because uska distributor strong hai.”