Bhool Chuk Maaf which was supposed to release on Friday but had its release cancelled and announced it would go straight to televison is now coming back to the theatres on next week. The film had opened advances and they were weak and on top the Pak conflict broke out and it was a given that the film would struggle to record decent collections over the weekend.

The collections were down in what would have been key areas for the film like Delhi NCR, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP and that 2 crore nett mark would have been a struggle as the film is not really for markets in Mumbai or the East and South. When the makers were taken to court by the PVR / Inox chain for cancelling theatrical release and going straight to television it was a surprise but it obviously meant there were no talks with the powerful chain before the decision was the made.  

It can be said its the producers decision as to what he / she does with their film but the difference here was contracts were done so the chain could have bought into the conversation. The multiplex chain lumping a multi crore case on the makers for damages was never going to help as they would fight it all the way. Now through the court its come down to a theatrical release which the makers dont want and on top its looking a television release in two weeks on Amazon prime channel. 

This is a total mess as the eight week window itself is one of the biggest problems as to why the box office is underperforming and now you may well have a film with a two week window which can lead to more rule changes. The worst part is that it could be a film that the makers did not want to release in cinemas and a film which was also not going to give PVR / Inox heavy collections that can lead to changes going forward. The industry should be thinking about pushing the window longer from eight weeks and not making it shorter as eventually a better theatrical is better for all investors concerned and that includes digital and satellite.