A big controversy came on Friday morning regarding Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi‘s film Bhool Chuk Maaf, when PVR Inox sent a legal notice to Maddock Films and Pen Marudhar. This notice was sent because the makers released the film directly on OTT instead of theatres.
PVR Inox says that they had invested a lot of money and effort in the promotion of the film, but now they have suffered a loss of about Rs 60 crore due to not bringing the film to theaters. They claim that the trailer of this film was shown on thousands of screens in special time slots, huge expenditure was also made on posters, standees and social media promotion.
But if we look from Maddock Films’ side, they say that they have invested all the money in the film and they are free to decide when and where to release the film.
According to a report in Pinkvilla, the situation in the country is very sensitive at the moment, there is tension on the border, some cinemas in Rajasthan and Punjab are closed, and night shows are not being run in cities like Delhi. IPL has also been cancelled. In such a situation, the producers did not want the film to come to theatres and increase the risk of piracy. Therefore, they decided to release the film directly on the digital platform.
The source said, ‘If Maddock had waited for a month and in the meantime any part of the film got leaked, then all the loss would have been theirs. The film is theirs, they have invested money, so they have the right to make the decision.’
The case was heard in Mumbai at 3 pm on Friday, where both the parties put forth their arguments.
PVR Inox alleges that the release of the film was stopped without giving any information, even though booking had already started. This caused chaos in scheduling in theatres and caused losses.
At the same time, Maddock Films argues that when the situation in the country is so serious, it is not right to call people to the theater for a light comedy film. They also talked about the cancellation of IPL and the closure of theaters in North India.
Now, the question arises whether PVR Inox has suffered a loss of Rs 60 crore? A source associated with the film industry says, ‘Which film has a marketing budget of Rs 60 crore? This figure does not seem logical for a small budget film like Bhool Chuk Maaf. If so much money has been spent on promotion, it means that the film must have been expected to earn more than Rs 300 crore, which is impossible.’
PVR Inox says that they had promoted this film on a very large scale and expected that the producers would also work professionally. But it was not right to release the film on OTT without information.
However, it is also being said in the industry that Maddock Films has released many big films like Munjya, Stree 2, Chhava, and Teri Baatein Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya in theatres in the last 18 months, and some of these films have also been distributed by PVR Inox itself.
Now it remains to be seen in whose favour the court gives its verdict in this dispute on Monday. At present, both parties have their arguments presented. We will have to wait for the court’s decision.
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