Vikramaditya Motwane had slammed Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2 for hogging most shows, leaving almost no room for All We Imagine As Light in theatres. All We Imagine As Light is making waves in the West with international recognition for its director Payal Kapadia. But in India, the film seems to have limited theatrical hold as it faces stiff competition from Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2: The Rule.
Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane expressed his frustration with the screen distribution of the film, as compared to the Golden Globe-nominated film, All We Imagine As Light. Now in a new report by Midday, trade expert Girish Wankhede shared his views on the debate of whether only one kind of films are given sufficient space in theatres, and disagreed with Motwane on the matter.
In the report, the trade expert said, “All We Imagine… released on November 22 and had a two-week run. One understands that such a film needs institutional push, but any film needs to show 40 per cent occupancy for it to be carried forward. It couldn’t fill the occupancy requirement; its lack of screens has no connection with Pushpa 2. Since Pushpa 2 is showing 80 per cent occupancy, it is preferred.”
‘No one wants to kill independent cinema’
Meanwhile, trade expert Akshaye Rathi said, “The makers of Pushpa 2 were in discussion with cinema owners for eight months before the film was released. All We Imagine’s distributors should’ve engaged with the exhibition sector and figured a way to make it reach the masses. For instance, Cinepolis is doing a week-long Japanese anime film festival in January, and it will be robustly promoted. We need to engage to make space for each other. No one wants to kill independent cinema because for theatre owners, people who appreciate such cinema are also [a source of income].”
Payal Kapadia scripted history last week at the Golden Globes, scoring a nomination for Best Director. On his Instagram Stories, Vikramaditya had shared a screenshot of multiple shows for Pushpa 2 and wrote, “And yet, Payal’s incredible success will mean f**k all to us because we will throw her film out, not let it breathe or find an audience, and will have 36 shows a day of one film in a single multiplex. Congratulations. We deserve this (sic).”
Pushpa 2: The Rule, which has a runtime of 3 hours and 15 minutes, had a mammoth opening at the box office. The Allu Arjun-starrer has already crossed ₹1000 crore globally. It released in theatres on December 5.
