It's the lull before the storm. No wonder, there wasn't a buffet of new releases last Friday. Just STRIKER. But it was ISHQIYA, released a week before, which dominated the marketplace. The second weekend of ISHQIYA was much better than the opening weekend of STRIKER, in terms of numbers.
Going back a bit, Studio 18 had ensured that STRIKER got noticed prior to its release and the release strategy, in my opinion, was also right. Since the film caters to a niche audience, the distributors ensured that it was released at select screens only. However, the weekend business was horrifyingly poor and it will be a miracle if the film completes an entire week at theatres.
Its investors will now have to rely on the revenue from non-theatrical sources [You Tube, Satellite, Home Video] to recover whatever they can. The returns from the theatrical business are as good as nil.
That brings me to a pertinent question: Are viewers not interested in shelling out money for relatively smaller movies? There's no denying that it gets extremely difficult for people to find a foothold and recover the costs, unless the film is extra-ordinary in merits. Also, it depends on the release period and how strong the opponent [read other new releases] is.
But let's hope we have reasons to celebrate next Friday!
