EXCLUSIVE: Zee Studios CBO Shariq Patel BREAKS silence on Gadar 2’s clash with Animal and OMG 2 on August 11; makes it clear that the Sunny Deol-starrer will not be pushed 2 : Bollywood News

There’s never a dull moment when it comes to Zee Studios as it’s always up to some headline-grabbing activity, from releasing films in cinemas in multiple languages to dropping exciting stuff like Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai on OTT to making waves in prestigious film festivals across the world. Bollywood Hungama exclusively spoke to its articulate and straightforward Chief Business Officer (CBO), Shariq Patel, about it, starting with the re-release of Gadar – Ek Prem Katha (2001) to clashing Gadar 2 with Animal and OMG Oh My God 2, taking Kennedy to Cannes, box office scenario at present etc.

EXCLUSIVE: Zee Studios CBO Shariq Patel BREAKS silence on Gadar 2’s clash with Animal and OMG 2 on August 11; makes it clear that the Sunny Deol-starrer will not be pushed

How is it like re-releasing Gadar – Ek Prem Katha?
The response has been fantastic and humbling. Many youngsters, who had never seen the film on the big screen before, came in. Also, those who had seen it and loved it then have returned to watch it once again in cinemas. I remember when Mughal-E-Azam (1960) had re-released (in 2004), so many of us went to see it as we wanted to experience its magic on the big screen.

Zee Studios is known for innovation and for being a standout studio, be it the first one to release films in cinemas post Covid with Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari (2020) to releasing Khaali Peeli (2020) on pay-per-view to having a hybrid release for Radhe (2021) to now re-releasing Gadar – Ek Prem Katha in a tight but effective manner. Will there be some innovation for the marketing of Gadar 2 as well?
Absolutely although right now, our focus is on the marketing of the first part’s re-release. Once we are through, we’ll focus all our energies on correctly marketing Gadar 2. It should begin in the last month of its release.

Does that mean that the trailer of Gadar 2 can be expected around mid-July?
Yes.

Gadar 2 will be clashing with Animal and also OMG Oh My God 2. Is the three-way clash worrisome?
No. Gadar 2 has to come either on Independence Day or Republic Day. There isn’t any other day for a film like this. Like last year, we had to release Raksha Bandhan (2022) on the festival of Raksha Bandhan. So, certain films need to arrive on a particular week because of their content. Gadar’s first part also clashed (with Lagaan). Everyone has their own business compulsions and strategy. Good luck to all of us! Let the audience pick their choice and hopefully, all three films will do well. That is the need of the hour. From our side, there’s no scope for shifting the release dates.

Also, Gadar 2 is a well-budgeted film. We often hear of skyhigh budgets of certain movies. Gadar 2 doesn’t fall into that category. Director Anil Sharma has also done a great job in this regard. And ultimately, it’s a Zee film. Both Gadar – Ek Prem Katha and Gadar 2 would be on the Zee platform forever. Even today, money comes in whenever Gadar – Ek Prem Katha plays on television. We plan long-term. We are not traders ki picture bech ke paisa nikaal dete hai.

What’s the status of Ajay Devgn-starrer Maidaan? When will it be released?
We will announce the revised date soon.

Anurag Kashyap’s film Kennedy got a rocking response and a lengthy standing ovation at the 76th Cannes Festival. You were at the festival. What was the experience like?
Yes, I was in Cannes along with Anurag Kashyap, Sunny Leone, Rahul Bhat etc. Also, I’d like to mention here that we are the first Indian studio and probably the very few studios in the world to have three movies in the same year selected by three prestigious film festivals in competition. Devashish Makhija’s Joram, starring Manoj Bajpayee, was selected in the competition section at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2023. Our Marathi film, Aatmapamphlet, which we have produced along with Aanand L Rai, was played at Berlinale in competition. Finally, Kennedy was screened for the midnight section at Cannes. So, to have the Zee Studios logo playing in three different countries and three different prestigious film festivals for three different movies is a feat. As per our research, Sony Pictures Classics and A24 are the only two studios that have achieved it.

We take huge pride in the fact that as a team and as brand Zee, we are able to straddle Anurag Kashyap and Anil Sharma! It’s as diverse a school of filmmaking as it can get. But as a studio, we believe that we have to make all kinds of content. There will be certain content which will go deep into the interiors of the country, like Gadar 2. We’ll also make films like Joram and Kennedy that would get a standing ovation. Aatmapamphlet got a standing ovation in European countries among audiences who connected to the emotions, despite it being in a foreign language for them and also the cultural nuances being very different. It is set in the 90s and is about a young boy in love with his classmate. There are references to Babri Masjid, Sachin Tendulkar, the President of that time in India etc. Yet, the audience understood it all.

The festival journey of these films continues. I am heading to Sydney where both Joram and Kennedy would be playing. The selection has been done by international curators and it makes for a gratifying experience. We have had audiences coming to us and talking about the displacement of indigenous tribes, which is what Joram is about. They also try to understand what’s happening with the tribal belt in India. The audience is quite informed. They don’t get the social political context but are still able to relate. They draw parallels to similar issues in their country of people picking up arms while trying to protect their lands.

We are happy that we are able to invest in content and work with such filmmakers while giving them a free hand. Anurag Kashyap and Devashish Makhija create a certain world and one should let them do it their way.

This year, we saw Zee Studios’ Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway doing well at the box office. Recently, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, too, became a hit. Both these films were dubbed as ‘OTT films’ and yet managed to attract audiences in cinemas. Hence, do you feel the situation has improved in 2023 compared to 2022?
In 2022, films were either becoming super-hits or super-flops. There were very few exceptions, like JugJugg Jeeyo (2022), which was average. So it’s very heartening to see audiences coming for a film like Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway. I am very happy with the collections of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke. Until these mid-sized films don’t start breaching the Rs. 25 crores, Rs. 30 crores or Rs. 50 crores mark, it’ll always be a problem. This trend needs to continue. It’s still too early to say that the box office is back. We need more of these films to deliver. Nevertheless, we are hopeful.

Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’s makers opted for the buy-one-ticket-get-one-ticket-free offer. Even Zee did it for Gadar – Ek Prem Katha, though it’s a re-release. But do you think it’s a good decision to have such offers, especially for new releases?
I don’t know about good or bad but I have been saying for a long time that watching a movie for the average middle-class person is a very expensive proposition right now. Something needs to be done by us and multiplexes. If we don’t find a solution, this slump will continue for a while. The industry has to come together – the big chain multiplexes, the smaller chains, the producers, trade experts etc. On the supply side, the VPF is killing us and on the demand side, the ticket price is killing the consumer. Also, the price of the popcorn! I’ll shout from the top of my voice that the cost of popcorn needs to be rationalized. Please make your margins. No one has a grouse against it. But to charge Rs. 400 or Rs. 500 for a tub of popcorn, when it costs only Rs. 5 or 10 to produce the same, is ridiculous! My son is 16. He doesn’t need to think about pricing but even he tells me, ‘I don’t want to have popcorn. It is so expensive’!

Many exhibitors told me, ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai was so good. Theatres mein aani chahiye thi’. Our response is, ‘Toh fir aap VPF maaf karo na’. Once you do that, of course, we’ll bring these films to theatres. I can’t take the risk of spending Rs. 4-5 crores on P&A and then not being able to recover even that much, given the current scenario. Hence, an industry-wide shift needs to happen. If they come to us and say, ‘Can you further increase the window between theatrical and digital release from 8 weeks to 10 or 12 weeks’, I’ll be the first one to say, ‘Let’s discuss’. But if there’s going to be no change from their end and they only expect us to act, it’s not fair.

At any given point in time, some film of Zee Studios is running in cinema in the country, be it in Hindi or regional languages. How do you guys manage to come up with so many films in a year and release them effortlessly?
It’s all teamwork. Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai dropped on Zee5 on May 23. On May 24, Kennedy premiered in Cannes and on May 26, our Punjabi film Godday Godday Chaa was released in cinemas. So we had three big and successful releases in less than a week. Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai is a smash hit on OTT, Kennedy made waves and how while Godday Godday Chaa is the biggest Punjabi female-centric film. At present, we have 15 odd releases which are ready for release in cinemas or film festivals. We have a system where we can plan all these releases with full clarity. We have got people in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Punjab, Mumbai etc. The team of distribution and marketing is working like well-oiled machinery. And of course, on the creative and production side, we make sure the projects are assigned and completed smoothly. Last financial year, we released 30 films. This year, too, we’ll end up releasing around 30 movies in 5 languages. There are 52 weeks in a year. So, yeah almost every other week, there’s a Zee film running in theatres!

Also Read: Gadar premiere - “Sunny and I will always be known for playing Tara Singh and Sakina. Putting on the costume of Tara and Sakina is akin to (putting on) Superman and Wonder Woman’s costume!” – Ameesha Patel