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PC – Pinkvilla
Rahul’s comment was in continuation of box office discussion…
There are much more 5 persons condemning in there. You want me to post all these comments in here? When most are bashing Himesh for not calling it out in 2023, then you know the films involved there. That’s the main thing. Why not in 2023? There are questions marks of bribery or pressure on these trade people. Why even now, a major part of the trade is still mum about it? For e.g. Taran. For those who like bringing up KRK here, all these films (including Sky Force) are hits! We know how things can get dirty. I remain silent when I get the samosas. But for those who don’t get these, they become vocal. This is the reason of the questionings.
You are talking about Dangal? Scroll down in the comments section, there. There is a post of Faridoon Shayrar (of BH) back in 2007, where he is subtly breaking news on an unprecedented level of pre advance corporate booking for OSO!
Anyway, in general, for most people, both (the Sky Force and 2023 scams) are dishonest practice. The fact that one is in bigger scale or more serious in one’s perception does not make the other one a fair practice. If murder is a crime, it does not mean that voluntary manslaughter is not, just because it is less serious! You seriously buy those theories of companies hiring whole cinema theatres for employees for specific films from specific banners or actors. You can’t see beyond that or you deliberately don’t want to or you don’t see the mechanisms behind that? These have been exposed everywhere and most common people are aware of the mechanisms in place.
I do not deny that Sky Force is a scam that has been rightly called out here. While most of the media are unfortunately hailing it as a success, I have condemned it, and not posted on its figures and business as they become irrelevant while most folks have rightly called it out here and have done more than enough. Scams like these should be exposed.
I don’t refer to gossips or media influencers. I refer to to authoritative sources. BOI and Nahta had talked about the scams in 2023. The good thing is that they are bringing scams up more openly now. People are calling it as well. That bodes well.
I have no doubt that Jawaan and Pathan are genuine super hits. But from what some of your recent posts affirm here, then Marcus may have been right when he affirmed back then that Pathaan in reality probably made 450cr net. But at that time any claim of corporate bookings were discarded as conspiracy theories and he was mocked for that. There were evidences flying around, but anytime these were posted, people went into hiding to come out a few days later to affirm we are breaking Bahubali’s records here! And to later affirm that Dunki is a hit.
The last time, I saw BOI posting about Dunki, it affirmed that Dunki is a flop is not for corporate booking. Do you see the extent of the scam? Someone here defended it and minimised it back then affirming the scam cannot be of more than 10 cr. And recently someone else claimed that it cannot be of more than 1%! So, 2cr difference takes a 200cr grossing film from a flop to average status?
There has been this modus operandi here:
Denial- There is no corporate booking. These are conspiracy theories
Ignorance- People would go into hiding when Nahta evoked that only Gadar 2 and Animal were organic hits in 2023. For Animal, he affirms, not a single rupee of corporate booking. There are 2 videos out there. Same for every time when BOI called it out. These BOI posts are posted here, and there are some really recent ones. Want me to post these again? Or when plumbers were being offered 20000 free tickets. God, I would love to be a plumber for being taken so much care of. Or when a trade website exposed the Dunki (and Salaar) scam to then affirm that for Dunki, the scam was for nearly 30cr. Every time such evidences were posted, people would go into hiding to come back after a few days.
Being selective- This is the latest technique adopted: Ok, we now acknowledge corporate bookings were there. But what Maddock is doing is different. It is at a more serious level. For the other films, they were fair practice. But the new ones are dishonest. We condone the previous ones, but condemn the new practice. Sky Force and Salaar are guilty. But Pathaan, Jawaan and Dunki were honest and fair. But (if I take from what BOI and Nahtta affirm) what about Animal and Gadar2 then? Their producers were imbeciles that did not indulge into any scam! This would have taken them to the 600cr Hindi benchmark. They are fools of the modern world!
I am consistent. Brahmastra, Pathaan, Jawaan, Dunki, Salaar and Sky Force are all in the same basket. Most of them (i.e. except for Pathaan and Jawaan) are not even successes. Even the scams could not save these. I called it out for Brahmastra here when most were hailing the success, and I am usually quite complimentary about Ranbir. This film practically ruined Dharma.
If one wants to be selective, then let’s agree to disagree over this. I guess such gaps in convictions and perceptions cannot ever be bridged. But I condemn such practice universally. I have spent 20 minutes typing this and its much more than enough for my daily time table!
I just hope that next time around every time a film does it, the trade and the people here continue exposing the scam. Don’t be selective. No matter the methodology used, this is pure dishonest practice and is one of main ills of an ailing industry. They better invest the money for better writers, directors and more talented people!
That said, all eyes Chaava and Sikandar. Let’s hope they work commercially in a fair way.
