BHUBANESWAR: Just when you thought things were looking up for Odia cinema with easy remakes of South Indian films finally making way for original stories, the industry seems to be facing new challenges. The struggle, this time, is for screen space.
The recent controversy over films Mind Game and Ram not getting screens across theatres in Twin City as well as the Western Odisha region has put the spotlight back on the distribution system and the need for more cinema halls, two key factors that can support the rejuvenating process of Odia cinema and help with more visibility.
Post-Covid-19 pandemic, the regional cinema industry has been witnessing a shift towards original stories, quality film-making and an attempt to showcase Odia films to a world audience. Be it Daman, Adieu Godard and National award-winning Pratikshya which brought audiences back to cinema halls last year or Pushkara and Mind Game, which have ticked all the right boxes, the appreciation for originality is palpable. However, it must be seen with a certain amount of concern since most of these films have got maximum screen time in multiplexes than single-screen theatres.
Of Distribution and Screens
There are about 52 cinema halls including multiplexes in the state with Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela and Berhampur accounting for the majority. Eight are in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack has three. Rourkela and Berhampur have four each.
During Dussehra this year, all the single-screen halls in the state were booked for screening Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan despite three to four Odia films awaiting release. Pushkara and Mind Game which were released before the Puja holidays received positive responses from the audience but their show counts were cut short during the festive period to give screen space to Jawan and other language films.
Odisha is a classic case of more films and less theatres, says Sritam Das, secretary of the Odisha Cine Artistes Association. “If there are four to five Odia releases during Dussehra, they have to compete with Hindi and Telugu films on big screens. And it’s the latter that wins this screen battle most of the time,” he points out.
This is because, says actor Manoj Mishra, it is the distributors who choose which films to screen from a business point of view. Mishra is also the co-producer of Mind Game.
Consider this: As of Sunday, 11 films of different languages are in the halls at Bhubaneswar - both multiplexes, cineplexes and single screens. Of them, three are Odia - Pushkara, My Sweet Housewife and Malyagiri - Kahani Aarambh. Of these three, only Babushaan-starrer Malyagiri - Kahani Aarambh has three shows in two single-screen theatres and one cineplex in prime time (3 pm to 9 pm). The rest two have got just one show in multiplexes and that too, before and beyond the prime time. Till last Sunday, Malyagiri had seven screens in the city. Apparently, all the screens have been reserved for Salman Khan starrer Tiger 3 which is a Diwali release. The film has got 87 shows throughout the day in all the multiplexes, single screens and cineplexes.
Hindi over Odia
The film distribution process in single-screen theatres holds all the aces. Mishra explains that in the case of a Hindi movie, film distributors and bookers buy it from its producer to screen it in the state. The profit or loss from the film is entirely theirs. However, in the case of an Odia film, they take a commission from the producer to just release it in cinema halls, he points out.
“Since their responsibility is limited to just releasing the film and have no stake in the profit or loss, they can remove it from the halls if another producer gives them a commission to release his film, even if the first film is doing good business,” he claims. So, if a Salman Khan movie is released during Diwali and an Odia film is in halls then doing well, the latter will be removed because the distributor sees his profit first, he adds.
Distributors have a contrarian view. Scheduling of shows in cinema halls is done on the basis of current audience preferences besides demand and the popularity of content. “That is where we put the money,” says a distributor requesting anonymity.
The director of Pushkara Subhransu Das agrees. “Our industry is now making good content but distributors will choose to release massy films in single theatres because there is a large audience that prefers them. Pushkara does not fall in that category, so it did better business in Cinepolis and DN Regalia than it did in Maharaja,” he reveals.
Anupam Patnaik, the maker of Pratikshya, feels there is a need for awareness among the audience about Odia cinema too. The industry, he adds, needs to make more quality cinema to change the audience’s anticipation towards Odia films.
“When my father (late Amiya Patnaik) made films in the 80s and 90s, people used to look forward to seeing Odia movies. But now the preference has shifted. To make people watch Odia cinema again, more quality films need to be made and when they are made, all the stakeholders should ensure they are screened well,” he says.
Govt Intervention Needed
Patnaik cites the example of Maharashtra and West Bengal governments which have made prime-time shows mandatory for Marathi and Bengali films respectively in multiplexes and halls. He suggests that similar measures should be taken by the Odisha government. Even in South Indian film industries, dominance of any other language films is not accepted, he says. Support from the government is the need of the hour to save Odia film industry, Patnaik feels.
While filmmakers also suggest that Odisha Film Development Corporation (OFDC) should control film distributorship so that Odia films get their share of screen time, producers demand the state government support more cinema halls to come up. Secretary of Odisha Film Producers and Distributors Guild Arun Ranjan Mohanty says there were close to 200 cinema halls in Odisha in the 90s. After Covid, the number came down to around 55.
“Since the number of screens is limited now, the ticket prices are very high. As most of the good Odia films are being limited to multiplexes, it is isolating a large chunk of film-goers who are used to paying Rs 100 to Rs 150 to watch a film in the theatres,” he points out.
Currently, the ticket price in a single screen ranges between Rs 100 and Rs 400; it costs Rs 240 to Rs 500 at a multiplex. In Cineplexes, a ticket costs Rs 110 to Rs 300. The Guild has proposed the state government to construct 50 200-seater halls to address the situation immediately.OFDC chairman Satyabrata Tripathy refused to comment on the existing distribution system but said the corporation has approached the government to set up more halls.