Pushpa 2 – The Rule is continuing its blockbuster run, and its second-week performance suggests another massive weekend. However, the advance bookings for the coming weekend haven’t opened in many theatres.
This is due to a deadlock between the distributors of Pushpa 2 and Baby John, which releases on December 25.
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Baby John is set to release on a Wednesday, coinciding with the Christmas holiday. However, Anil Thadani, the distributor of Pushpa 2, also wants to capitalize on the holiday fervor.
He has instructed theatres to play an equal number of shows for both films between December 20 and December 26. This means theatres cannot reduce Pushpa 2’s shows to make room for Baby John on December 25.
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This essentially means Anil Thadani wants a 2-week-old film to have the same number of shows as the new release.
Thadani has asked exhibitors to confirm this condition in writing. If they don’t comply, they won’t receive the release order (RO) to show Pushpa 2 during the weekend. Without the RO, theatres won’t be able to screen Pushpa 2 over the weekend.
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While he might be justified in putting this condition since Pushpa 2 is still drawing massive crowds and might even beat Baby John’s first-day collections on Christmas, Varun Dhawan’s Baby John should be given a fair chance to perform to its optimum level during the festival holiday.
It’s unfair to blackmail theatre owners into playing Pushpa 2 and not giving enough shows to Baby John. If the word-of-mouth for Baby John is not good, then theatre owners will definitely allocate more shows to Pushpa 2 anyway.
Baby John is being distributed by PVR Inox Pictures who had a fight for screens and shows with Thadani’s AA Films when Singham Again clashed with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 during Diwali. The tensions between the two distributors are now believed to be playing out in this current standoff.
Baby John is a do or die film for Varun Dhawan if he wants to become a star hero. He has pinned all his hopes on this Atlee-produced film. But Pushpa 2 is turning out to be a big headache for him.
