Whenever a film becomes an unexpectedly large hit, as Drishyam 2 has become, the films that come during the following week must face the ferocity of the hit from the previous week.
Thus, The Kashmir Files became the unexpected blockbuster on March 11, 2022. The Akshay Kumar starrer Bachchhan Pandey released a week later on March 18, was a complete washout.
They wanted to see The Kashmir Files, no other film that came in the weeks after. Similarly, it is with Drishyam 2. The film has caught on like wildfire. I don’t think audiences want to see anything else right now,” says Roshan Singh, a leading film exhibitor from Bihar.
He remembers when he released Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas. “It ran for fifty weeks in my theatre. For weeks and months, audiences shunned other releases.”Amar Kaushik’s Bhediya, with Varun Dhawan playing a werewolf, faces the same dilemma. Theaters are not willing to cancel shows of Drishyam 2 from Friday for Bhediya.
“Why should we? After so many months of famine, we have a super hit. Why would we want to give up an acknowledged, successful film for the sake of a new film? For all we know, Bhediya would be a potential hit. But not right now, thanks,” the manager of leading multiplex shares on condition of anonymity. He also divulged that the Bhediya producers Maddock are going all-out to ensure they get optimum screens.
