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OPINION: Why are corporate bookings not a healthy practice in influencing film promotions?
A new term of corporate booking i.e. inflating box office numbers has come into existence in the recent times. However, here is why I feel it doesn’t come across as a healthy practice.
A term that has taken birth in recent times is ‘corporate bookings.’ Let’s face it, as much as our Hindi films are struggling at the box office, there have been several malpractices that are even worsening the situation, one of which is — self-buying adopted by the big players behind the filmmaking process.
It goes without saying that our Hindi film industry has suffered severely in the post-COVID-times, with audiences being drawn to digital ventures. The cost of watching and comfort of OTT projects is relatively better than going to theaters. Nonetheless, being a Bollywood buff, I have to admit that there is no better experience than watching movies on big screens.
Many times you must have seen that the seats shown as “booked” online, actually have people sitting on them, even if it is on a ticket not paid for by them. Even at times, the theaters are found empty while they may show “Houseful”.
While post-COVID phase witnessed successful movies like Pathaan, Gadar 2, Animal and the most recent being Chhaava, there were several names that despite anticipation couldn’t do wonders at the box office. However, the pressure of showcasing big box-office numbers as the "organic collections" has eventually led to the fake creation of the online buzz.
To cite an example, the producers of a major film released in the beginning of this year claimed to have earned a global worldwide box-office collection of Rs. 150 crore in 10 days, but the lifetime collection of the film was not even close to the said figure.
For a person like me who is interested in movies and content, would decide watching the film on the basis of content irrespective of the star power. Nevertheless, general audience who goes to the cinema for pure entertainment purpose often looks at the buzz around it and creating this “false perception” in their minds is nothing but breaking their trust.
On a concluding note, I feel a little strategical showcasing of figures is fine, but exaggeration of the figures, in the longer run, will turn out to be an unhealthy practice for the film business in general.
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