Trade Tattle

THE DISTRIBUTORS CELEBRATE
The film business can be very strange. Sometimes, distributors are in a commanding position and at other times, the exhibitors are. Right now, it is the distributors’ turn to be jubilant. The reason is simple: there’s a short supply of big budget films. Most exhibitors are ready to book films at whatever price the distributors quote. TN Chaturvedi of ABC films, says the exhibitors are ready to take film on any condition, no questions asked. They are ready to reduce the rentals and even give a minimum guarantee (MG). He says not many big films are due for release in May. Owing to the severe drought in Gujarat, the exhibitors are scared to run any film in the state, because they fear the audience is in no mood to watch films. Yet, since they have to keep their cinemas running, they’re willing to settle for any terms.

AFTER A HUGE LOSS
Chaturvedi, who is a chartered accountant by profession, and runs his distribution office along with sons Manoj and Sanjay, also dabbles in film production. His company has bought four small-budget films for distribution, after incurring heavy losses with the Govinda starrer, Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain. “It was a 40 per cent loss. How are we expected to recover the price of the film, when the producer has already shown it on satellite?,” he asks.

ABC films will release Dahshat on May 5. “We are planning to release Hum To Mohabbat Karega, in which Bobby Deol and Karisma Kapoor have been teamed for the first time, on May 19, failing which the release may be postponed to May 26. It is a romantic thriller with good music and a strong suspense element. We hope the film does well at the box-office,” he says.

Manoj and Sanjay Chaturvedi have acquired Dal The Gang, Geeta Mera Naam and Khajuraho. Incidentally, Manoj had joined hands with director T Rama Rao and Bobby Anand to make Bulundi, but the film was a long time in the making, and did not do well. Now Manoj is making Girgit, for which one song has been recorded under the baton of Viju Shah. ABC Films got into distribution with Qurban, ten years ago but they made good money with the release of Ravan Raj, which signalled the rebirth of Mithun Chakraborty.

THE LIFTS THAT STAY PUT
Mumbai’s Naaz Building, which is the headquarters of the city’s movie trade, is a veritable hubbub of activity during the day time, with hundreds of people streaming in and out, either to book films, collect posters or transact business with distributors. But the building is so shabbily maintained that one wonders why the top distributors like Shringar Films continue to operate out of it. It isn’t just the building which is in urgent need of repair. Its lifts are, too. One lift is used by the tenants, while the other is used by RP Anand, who controls Naaz Cinema and the building. The latter doesn’t work at all. Even the one that works, isn’t functional during the lunch break that lasts two hours. And one has no option but to use the stairs when one visits the building during the lunch break. Considering the Naaz building management collects huge rentals from the distributors, can’t it at least keep the lifts in working condition?

FILMS IN SHORT SUPPLY
According to Santosh Singh Jain, there is a short supply of films in the market. “When we should have released two or three films a week, we have hardly one film hitting theatres each week, these days. There is a shortage of films, and consequently, one has to ration the releases. While the rentals of theatres may come down because films are in short supply, the distributors are still not happy. This is because of the high prices of films. Sadly, this isn’t true only for Mumbai but holds true everywhere. Even if Chal Mere Bhai does well, it still doesn’t solve the problem of those distributors who lost heavily over other releases in recent times,” he laments.

MSM Desai