Multiplexes v Producers- The Stalemate Ends...

A genuine lover of Bollywood like me had a tough time all through this summer. The reason was not just the sweltering heat, it was also the famine that we experienced across cinema halls for the past 2 months. Thanks to the Multiplexes v Producers stalemate that extended well over 60 days, there was an absolutely dry spell across the country. Even music channels failed miserably in attracting audiences and all those reality shows of getting gorgeous or vying for a hunk's attention did not reflect in TRP's. Many Singleplexes closed down for renovation and Multiplexes were relying on IPL 2 and re run of hits from the past 2 years which are anyways all over sattelite channels during weekends. The producers and multiplexes finally reached an amicable settlement- as opposed to 50% during the first 3 weeks which was the original demand, now it stands reduced to 50%, 45% and 40% during the first 3 weeks, it seems. I am not too sure about the statistics and I really dont care how they share the profits. I am looking at this issue purely from the point of view of a fan of Bollywood- Look at what the viewer has lost! Last summer we had a plethora of releases (so what if most of them were substandard, at least we had something to watch!) and this summer we had nothing, absolutely nothing. Summers are considered to be the season of blockbusters in Bollywood. Did the learned producers and distributors failed to understand that? Look at the kind of money that they locked up in the name of profit sharing. Could they not have arrived at a consensus much earlier? Most importantly, how are all these biggies going to be released now? What is the strategy and how are they planning to prevent movies eating into each other's business? With the skyrocketing ticket charges, they obviously cannot expect the viewer to shell money on everything that releases. That leaves the choice with the audience and now its time to see which of those biggies is going to earn the big bucks at the box office window! My take on the whole issue is that the parties involved should have considered the trade in general and the hapless audience in particular. With tough times all around, the audience would have definitely flocked to theatres to watch entertaining cinema. With the entire vacation period left unexploited, I am sure many of the moneybags in the industry are going to turn paupers when their holed up movies see the light of the day. Lets hope that this is the first and the last time something like this happens to the industry... And dont miss to catch New York, Kambhakht Ishq and Love Aaj Kal in the theatres- all 3 of them look promising :-)