Famous theater owner cries foul

Noted cinema owner Manoj Desai, who runs the Gaiety Galaxy and the Maratha Mandir in Mumbai, is back with Kalki 2898 AD hitting theaters this week.

He claims that distributors do not let him book tickets for their cinemas.

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The distributors in Mumbai are not taking advance bookings for Kalki 2898 AD. Manoj Desai is very upset about this. This is not the first time this has happened with a Prabhas film. The same problem occurred with Salaar too.

He says that bookings are only possible for 3D shows. He spoke to Prabhas’ close aide about the issue. There are only two days left and they are still unable to make bookings. He claims that distributors want to make more money from multiplexes as ticket prices are low in his theatres.

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Desai says 2024 has been a tough year for single-screen cinema operators so far. They hope Kalki 2898 AD will be a turnaround.

Let’s hope this gets resolved soon.

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Till Monday 11:15 pm, Kalki 2898 AD has sold 29,500 tickets across the three largest national chains PVRInox and Cinepolis. PVRInox sold 22,300 tickets and Cinepolis sold 7,200 tickets.

Anil Thadani’s AA Films is releasing Kalki in North India on June 27 and is targeting 3,500 theatres (3,250 in Hindi). Advance booking for the Hindi version began on Sunday evening and the response has been better than expected.

If this trend continues, Kalki could surprise at the box office in Hindi markets. The Sanjay Cineplex in Bihar sold over 300 tickets in less than 12 hours, showing strong demand for the film.

The big World Cup semi-final involving India on Thursday could influence the audience numbers at the evening and night shows.

However, if reviews are positive, the film could still collect close to Rs 25 crore. It is early days but there is hope that the momentum will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday and we will hit the projected numbers.

Any opening around the Rs 20 crore mark would be good for ‘Kalki’ in Hindi as it is a weekend away and the film will have a two-week run at the box office.