There is a buzz in the industry among trade circles that Powerstar Pawan Kalyan’s next Ustaad Bhagat Singh which is about to release soon won’t have any paid premiere shows in Telugu states. It has led to divisive opinions among the fans.
A vast majority of fans want Ustaad Bhagath Singh to have premieres. While a few are okay as long as there are early morning shows compensating for the lack of premieres. So, which is the right thing to follow for the producers, who have to ultimately make a call?
The last two Pawan Kalyan films, Hari Hara Veera Mallu and They Call Him OG have had paid premiere shows. In fact, both set up new records for premieres at that time. It’s this track record that’s making the majority of fans push for premiere shows again. However, they are missing some key points here.
First thing is the clash with the most hyped Dhurandhar The Revenge. The second part is cutting into the premiere shows of Ustaad Bhagat Singh across the Telugu states. Ustaad Bhagat Singh can’t start at the same time as Dhurandhar The Revenge and its price is likely to be double in the least case.
The second and important thing is the past track record of director Harish Shankar and the commercial movies like UBS. Harish Shankar’s last, Mr. Bachchan too had its premiere, the night before its release and its release day was a National Holiday. Similarly, a mass entertainer film like Mass Jathara too had premieres and then the next day it failed to get openings.
Third and finally, the Pawan Kalyan films too didn’t manage to get to the optimum levels on its opening day, after the massive premiere shows all over the Telugu states.
With these past examples in mind, and also the fact that its a big Ugadi holiday on March 19th, the distributors are pushing for an early morning release with more shows through the day instead of having paid premieres which might hurt day 1 prospects despite being a holiday.
Given the situations, what do you think should be the choice of Mythri Movie Makers, the film’s producers.
