To boost box office collections, Rajasthani filmmakers rereleasing previous hits

As the nation was eagerly awaiting the release of Baahubali: The Conclusion, the makers of the magnum opus in a smart marketing strategy, re-released the first part just a few weeks before the sequel's release. The idea struck a chord with many Bollywood filmmakers, with Subhash Ghai announcing the re-release of his 1999 film Taal. And it's not just Bollywood, Rajasthani filmmakers have taken a cue from this and are re-releasing old hits in a bid to improve their box-office collections.The makers of Rajasthani film

Pakki Herogiri

, featuring Arvind Kumar Vaghela and Neelu Vaghela in lead, is being re-released on July 14 in Jaipur, which was originally released in February 2017.

RAJASTHANI FILMS

ARE OFTEN PULLED DOWN FROM HALLS TO ACCOMMODATE B-WOOD FILMS

Arvind Vaghela

says, “The film received a good response in its first run.It managed to earn `2.3 lakh at the BO in its first week, when films like Jolly LLB 2, Kaabil and Raees were also being screened. It's a good figure for a Rajasthani film. So we thought of re-releasing it.“

Owing to the poor

box office

collections of Rajasthani films, producers are leaving no stone unturned to bring viewers to the theatres. Arvind adds, “We have a bunch of passionate directors and producers who wouldn't mind selling their properties to make a film.There is no dearth of talent here, but we don't have a market. The current generation is more drawn towards Hindi and English films.They hardly watch Rajasthani films.Regional films in most cases do not get enough theatres. And when they do, the exhibitors pull down Rajasthani films to accommodate a Hindi film. So it becomes difficult for us to release our films across all cinema halls in Jaipur. Having said that, not all regional films get re-released. Since Pakki Herogiri did fairly well as compared to other Rajasthani films, we got the confidence to re-release it so that more people can watch it.“

Nandu Jhalani, the distributor of Pakki Herogiri, adds, “The more mass-appeal films you make, the greater the chances are of a film doing good repeat business. Pakki Herogiri, apart from featuring popular Rajasthani actors like Arvind and Neelu Vaghela, has a good storyline and thus it got a good response. We are confident that it will do well this time too.“

RAJASTHANI FILMS DON'T HAVE ENOUGH BUDGET TO RELEASE ACROSS THE STATE, SO RE-RELEASE HELPS

Manzoor Ali, another Rajasthani actor and filmmaker, re-released his film Sanwaliya Seth in April this year. It was released for the first time in August 2016. “Rajasthani films ko toh waise bhi bahut kam log dekhte hain. So I thought of re-releasing my film to get a decent viewership for the second time,“ he says, adding, “My film worked well during its re-release. It's not that my film got an amazing response in its first run or I had demands from the exhibitor to re-re lease the film. The truth is that we make low-budget Rajasthani films. We don't have enough budget to release our films in all the theatres across Rajasthan at once. And even if we want to, not many cinema halls are willing to screen our films.“

However, Shatrughan Pareek, Rajasthani film distributor, exhibitor and producer, has a dif ferent point of view. He says “I don't think re-runs fetch you a good business. Jab movie first attempt mein nahi chali toh dobara kya chalegi? I remember, in order to pull public to cinema halls, the makers of Sanwaliya Seth had to resort to giving freebies through their lucky draw scheme. This was when the makers were releasing the film again. When Baahubali's re-release didn't make the same business as the first time, how can you expect a Rajasthani film to do well in its second run?“

RAJASTHANI FILMMAKERS TO STAGE PROTEST AGAINST THE ADDITIONAL TAX, APART FROM GST
Already, the

Rajasthani film industry

has been hit hard because of the implementation of GST - Rajasthani movies that were free from entertainment tax in the state would now be paying 28 percent tax (in small towns and villages in Rajasthan where the ticket price is usually less than Rs 100, 18 percent tax will be levied). If sources are to believed, the local bodies in the state would levy an additional entertainment tax outside of the GST regulatory framework. This means, that the Rajasthani films will end up paying 48-58 percent tax depending on the ticket pricing. Shravan Sagar, vice-president of Rajasthan Cinema Vikas Sangh and a popular Rajasthani actor, told us, "As compared to other regional film industry, ours is in a very sad state. We are not against the GST but we are against the additional 30 percent tax. If we pay 58 percent tax, then what will we earn? Vaise bhi humari films ko kam log dekhne aate hain. We are waiting for the final decision to come out. If it doesn't come in our favour, then we would stage a protest against the state government. The state Government must do something to save Rajasthani cinema."



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