Film making is tough. And releasing a film is tougher. I genuinely feel that film producers need to have loads of courage to make a film first, get the buyer next and ensure that it gets released in the best possible manner subsequently.
A producer has to keep so many factors in mind before he announces a release date - exams, weather conditions, cricket matches, elections... even Swine Flu. And if you have multiple releases in a week, you also need to ensure that your film stands out the maximum.
I genuinely feel - and I conveyed my viewpoint to Abbas-Mustan and Rumi Jaffery - that LIFE PARTNER would've performed much better had it opened a week later. It got bulldozed by the KAMINEY wave, but had it opened in the immediate week, it would've had to contend with SIKANDAR and SHADOW.
That brings me to SIKANDAR. A low-cost film like A WEDNESDAY shows a spurt in business if the word of mouth coupled with the reviews in the media is super. But in the case of SIKANDAR, the response was plain ordinary and even the reviews weren't tremendous.
Even if the film had the potential to grow with word of mouth, the onset of the holy month of Ramzan and Ganesh Chaturthi on Sunday would've scuttled its growth. Let's not forget that a sizable hunk of audience stays away from movies during this period. Hence, the only thing that would draw audiences to theatres would be remarkable feedback from those who've watched it + glowing reviews in the media, which SIKANDAR clearly lacked.
On the other hand, SHADOW was backed by a fantabulous advertising campaign prior to its release. It was, in my opinion, the most aggressively promoted film of the year, thus far. In fact, a number of industry bigwigs called me on Friday to check on the opening response to this film, given the fact that the promotion was truly superb. Expectedly, SHADOW performed better at single screens, courtesy the masala feel the promos emitted.
However, the business of all films slided downwards on weekdays, especially towards the evening and night shows.
