Was Ajay Devgan Justified in taking YRF to the court?

From last two weeks there have been lots of noise regarding Ajay Devgan's notice to Yash Raj,its implications et al.But has he done a right thing by doing so,if you ask me Yes he has.Its really unfair on part of any movie production house to use their muscle power to manipulate the competitors.It happens in every industry and film industry is no different..

If had happened 15 years ago it would not have this ramifications where movies had time to grow.In fact there have been many cases when movie released on same day have worked like Gadar and Lagan and also Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Bade Miya Chhote Miya,(the latter two released on Diwali itself).

But today when the business of movies are dependent on weekends and at the most,a week a movie definately loses out if it does not get sufficient number of screens even if the movie is better than the other one.Even a good word of mouth wont' help since even if people want to see the movie what would they do if its not playing in a theater near them or in case of a multitplex the show timings dont' suit them?This problem is more acute for the single screen theaters since they dont' have multiple screens and can show only either of the two movies.Also the multiplexes have the option of altering the number of shows depending upon the performance after the first week but single screens dont' have that luxury

So Ajay Devgn is definitely right in fighting for his share of screens but what is surprising is amidst all these talks is that most of us missing a vital point and that is the insecurity of Yash Raj films in terms of their product.If they were confident of their product they would not have tried to sell it off with a Salman Khan movie who is turning everything to Gold at box office

If they had done this for a movie starring newcomers or with a lesser star cast I would have understood,but if they are not confident about a Yash Chopra-Shahrukh Khan-Katrina Kaif-Anushka Sharma project then its really surprising.How can they can be so insecured despite being one of the top production houses in the country?

Agreed that masala movies like Son of Sardar are ruling the roost rather than an old school romance like Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Shahrukh Khan is not having good times at box office of late but still them stooping to such levels is not justified since they have been always very ethical and respected banner. Infact,in case of Ek Tha Tiger when the theatres were cashing on Salman Khan-Eid combination by hiking the ticket rates they had taken strong opposition to it which is very commendable.So their stand is really surprising.

Going by the collections of these two movies Son of Sardar is doing better if we consider the ratio of collections to the number of screens and Ajay Devgan seems to be vindicated and I hope this practise of big production houses blocking the number of screens is not followed by other production houses which will ultimately spell doom for the independent and small producers


Comments

  1. milind patilNovember 16, 2012 at 8:29 PM

    It isnt about Yashraj being insecure about their product. It is to maximize their gains. Yes, this monopolistic practice isn't good but its minuscule compared to what companies in other industries do. It might spell doom for the independent & small producer but did we not study survival of the fittest. Its a similar argument of FDI in retail wherein we feel the Mom&Pop stores would not survive. Innovation will make them survive.

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    Replies
    1. HarshNovember 16, 2012 at 11:23 PM

      If one is not insecure about their product they should not be worrying about their gains which will eventually come and here I am just talking about film industry in isolation and not comparing it with other industries.In terms of gross numbers the effect of this may look miniscule but also see the size of the industry and its impact and if nos are miniscule in terms of other industries that doesnt make them lesser evils in any case.

      And it is entirely foolish to compare FDI-Retail scenario with this.We cant'compare sale of FMCGs which are necessities to movies which are a sort of luxury.Consumers buy day to day necessities from retail shop and cant' do away without it but watching movie is not their necessity but luxury and getting attention span of consumers at the very onset is very critical
      Secondly,this argument doesnt hold true since both Big Bazaar and Kirana Shops sell the same goods but here different theatres are selling different products movies in this case.There are more chances of local kirana shop and retail outlets coexisting since they sell the same toothpaste or the soap but this is not true in the case of theatres which show movies which has a such a short shelf life and high stakes since a single flop can cost them a fortune

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  2. HarshNovember 16, 2012 at 11:33 PM

    To substantiate this further Kirana shops would suffer if HUL decides to supply only to the Retail outlets and kirana shop has to stock lesser brands of soaps and shampoos,this is similar to the current scenario when some exhibitors even if they wanted to screen Son of Sardar couldnt' do it because of monopolistic practises of YRF.The competition between retail-kirana is more healthy since they are selling the same thing unlike this case where small screens are not being allowed to screen the movie they want

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