WATCH 2 FILMS AT THE PRICE OF 1 TICKET!
Salman Khan-starrer Ready generally received mixed reviews. Yet, people are thronging for it as if it’s the next 3 Idiots. Many multiplexes have inflated ticket rates for this film and yet, it hasn’t deterred the average moviegoer in going for this film with their family or friends. This is an indication as to how hungry moviegoers were for a masala entertainer featuring their favourite superstar. As I had mentioned in my Talk No 118 (posted 6 days after Dabangg’s release), “Logicand sense can go out of the window and nobody cares as long as entertainment quotient is high!” Of course this isn’t a good sign at a time when we are considering ourselves lovers of intellectual cinema. But then this is the truth…an average moviegoer loves to watch a Ready more than a Stanley Ka Dabba.
The success of Ready also brings forth the point that audience is ready to spend hundreds of bucks on a biggie but is hesitant to do so for small-budget films. Hence, many film experts have recommended that multiplex rates be slashed for small-budget films featuring lesser known stars or newcomers. Multiplexwallahs didn’t see this as a reasonable option and hence this suggestion was never implemented. The result was several small and medium budget Hindi films have recorded terrible collections at multiplexes. But now Subhash Ghai has come up with an interesting idea. 2 small films made by his banner release tomorrow-Cycle Kick and Love Express. Audiences who buy the ticket of either film get a chance to see the other at no extra cost, i.e. you get to see 2 films in 1 ticket! You don’t have to see the other film immediately. The second film can be watched before the beginning of the new week. So, if you catch Cycle Kick on Friday, you have the chance to see Love Express anytime by next Thursday in the same Cineplex!
This is definitely a trendsetting idea and I expect lots of production houses implementing this model for their stuck films. UTV’s half a dozen small films are struggling to get a release, some of them featuring names like Irrfan Khan, Mahie Gill, Rajeev Khandelwal and even Amitabh Bachchan! ‘2-films-in-1-ticket’ model can be of great help to them. However, this may not work for Subhash Ghai’s films, Love Express (LE) and Cycle Kick (CK) as there’s no excitement for them at all. LE, about the fun happenings with a marriage party in a train, looks colourful and interesting but hype is negligible. CK looks like the next Iqbal but it is not promoted at all while LE hogs all the limelight. Even CK’s actor Tom Alter admitted he’s baffled why CK is sidelined. Moreover, since there’s no hype for both films, audiences won’t even like to spend 250 or 300 bucks even if they get to catch 2 films in a single ticket.
But this model is here to say. And for that, let’s give Mr Ghai his due!
WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE ‘2-FILMS-IN-1-TICKET’ MODEL? DO LET ME KNOW!
P.S.: As per the latest news that arrived late yesterday (after the piece was written), the 2 films won’t be releasing together tomorrow. Only Love Express will arrive tomorrow while Cycle Kick is postponed by a week. The official reason given by Ghai’s banner Mukta Arts is as follows: The offer of "Two films @ the price of one ticket" faced many legal hindrances in implementation within such a short period of time. However, Mukta Arts will continue to champion the new pricing model, and the cause. The execution of this requires extensive support from Exhibitors, as well as the Government.
