The Hindu Business Line : Chopra's silsila

The plot is weirder than that of an average Hindi film. A filmmaker noted for romance, melody and family values in his films, is now accused of acting authoritarian and against the interests of other producers. More recently, well-known producer-director Yash Chopra and his film distribution network, Yash Raj Films, were under the scanner on the charge of asking multiplexes for more money to screen Fanaa. The controversy began some weeks ago when Akbar Khan, the producer of Taj Mahal, came out openly against Chopra at of business forums and accused him of trying to stall the release of his film in Pakistan. It was reported that Chopra argued that Taj Mahal was a film of no consequence and that his own film, Veer Zaara should be released first across the border. Khan used strong language to condemn such tactics and was supported by fellow producers like Mahesh Bhatt and Pritish Nandy, who made pointed references to the `arrogance' of the Chopra camp.

Even before the Taj Mahal controversy died down, exhibitors and multiplex owners were shocked when Yash Raj Films demanded a larger share of collections from Fanaa starring Aamir Khan and Kajol.

Normally, multiplexes pay distributors 48 per cent of box-office collections during the first week, 38 per cent during the second week and 30 per cent in the third week. In the multiplexes, first-week collections matter and often decide the fate of a film. Yash Raj wanted more and threatened to withhold the film from the multiplexes, offering it to the single theatres in Mumbai. Initially there was some resistance from the All India Multiplex Owners Association (AIMOA).

But starved of good films, the owners reportedly agreed to pay higher rates ranging from 50-45-40 to 50-40-30 for the first three weeks. Only two multiplexes, INOX and Zee's Fun Republic, held out and refused to pay more. To make up for the extra payment, most multiplexes hiked their rates by 15 to 30 per cent, passing the burden to the viewers. The mini-confrontation seemed to send out one clear message: `It would be unwise to resist the Yash Chopra clique.'

Industry sources say that Yash Raj demanded and got Rs 15 lakh as advance from each multiplex but as a sop promised them a package deal consisting of a new film every four weeks right up to Diwali. Since Chopra owns one of the biggest distribution networks and controls the release of star-studded major films like Krrish (Rakesh Roshan), Kabhi Alvida na Kahena (Karan Johar) and his own productions like Kabul Express and Dhoom 2, the exhibitors had to agree to his terms. Fanaa was released with a lot of planning. It was vacation time for schools and colleges and no other major releases were in the offing.

Yet, Yash Raj Films could face problems. The day after Fanaa was released it was not `House Full' in some suburban theatres at Borivili, Kandivili and Chembur. This could have been because the market was flooded with 600 prints of the film and the multiplexes in Mumbai are in close proximity. Then came the Aamir Khan-Narmada dam controversy and Fanaa was unofficially banned in Gujarat. Chopra said that his daily losses due to the ban was around Rs 4 crore.

Though the industry was sympathetic towards Aamir, it was a different matter when it came to Chopra. On leading producer commented, "Does he want to be the Godfather of Bollywood? Over the years, he has cornered 60 per cent of the exhibitors, most of the top stars and music directors. This is not a desirable trend." They pointed out how Chopra bulldozed multiplex owners into having eight daily shows of Veer Zaara. Similarly, last year a flop film from the Chopra camp, Neal `N' Nikki had to be given primetime viewing at the multiplexes while better films had to be content with odd-time shows.

Yash Raj Films while refusing to comment on the controversy pointed out that theatres did hike admission rates while releasing big films from any banner.

Their stand was supported by producer Subhash Ghai who said that filmmakers invested huge amounts, had to share profits with distributors and yet multiplex owners collected 50 per cent of the collections. That was why many filmmakers had entered distribution.

Veteran exhibitor and executive director of the Gaiety-Galaxy-Gemini multiplex, Manoj Desai recalled that even in an earlier era exhibitors danced to the tunes of filmmakers. Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar constantly played at one-upmanship, ready to pay theatre owners to screen their films for longer periods.

"The success of a film was decided on the rates at which tickets sold in the black market," he laughed. "Sometimes, producers and distributors purchased tickets in block, leading to artificial shortage so that the black rates would be up!"

However, it is believed that a new trend was set with Rajshri Films' 1994 blockbuster, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, when the film was distributed only to those theatres that agreed to hike their rates by nearly 50 per cent.

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