Hall owners disappointed with Eid movies
Even though it is lethargic throughout the year, the country’s film industry gets
a boost during Eid.
Every year, there is a rush to release movies centred around the two Eids, and viewers also flock to cinema halls during this time.
Hall owners are full of hope. Many closed cinema halls reopen during the Eid season.
owever, this time, that hope seems to have been dashed. Even though there is a crowd in the cineplexes, the Eid movies have disappointed the hall owners.
This time, five movies have been released on Eid-ul-Fitr – ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka’, ‘Domm’, ‘Bonolota Express’, ‘Rakkhosh’ and ‘Pressure Cooker’.
But only ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka’ is being shown on single screens.
The movie starring Shakib Khan has been released in 133 cinema halls across the country on Eid. Like every Eid, this time too, the hall owners had high expectations for Shakib’s movie.
However, those expectations have not been fulfilled 100 per cent, said Awlad Hossain Ujjal, President of Bangladesh Film Exhibitors’ Association.
Many halls could not be screened on Eid due to non-payment of Digital Cinema Package (DCP) on time.
As a result, incidents of vandalism have occurred. The hall owners have complained to the Exhibitors’ Association against the producer of film ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka.’
Apart from this, President of Film Exhibitors’ Association opined that the decision to release other Eid movies only in cineplexes was not right.
He announced that a meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday. He hinted at taking a tough decision in the meeting.
Awlad Hossain Ujjal also said, “Hall owners could not run movies properly on Eid with more than 50 people.
The movie could not be uploaded properly to the server of many halls. In some halls, the movie could not be screened properly the next day as well.
In addition, many halls ran movies, but there were various problems, including the sound being cut off at times.
Angry viewers who came to watch the movie vandalised the movie theatre.
All in all, everyone is at a loss. The expectations of the theatre owners regarding the Eid movie were not fulfilled this time.”
Regarding the release of a movie on a single screen on Eid, the leader also said, “It was announced before Eid that other movies will not be shown on a single screen in the first week.
This decision has had a negative impact on the entire industry, including cinema halls.
Even if they don’t want to, the hall owners have to show only one movie. Now we are thinking about whether to show the remaining movies in cinema halls or not.
On the other hand, many complaints have also been received regarding the problems of film ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka’. We have a meeting on Wednesday (April 1).
We will discuss these issues with everyone there and make decisions. If necessary, the Film Exhibitors’ Association will take strict action.”
Despite disappointing single screens, multiplexes are seeing a rush of viewers to watch Eid movies.
Most of the movie shows are still going housefull. On Sunday, Buriganga Talkies and Hoichoi Studios, the production companies of film ‘Bonolota Express’, said that their gross sales in the first eight days were Tk 2.26 crores.
The makers of ‘Domm’, ‘Rakkhosh’ and ‘Pressure Cooker’ have not officially announced the income, but they have expressed satisfaction with the income.
However, film ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka’ is not in a favourable position in cineplexes as expected.
Although it was running in Lion Cinemas, K Screen Cineplex, Jamuna Blockbuster, Madhuban Cineplex, the movie was not screened in any branch of Star Cineplex for the first four days due to DCP problems.
Later, after resolving the technical glitches, ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka’ is running there from the fifth day of Eid-ul-Fitr.
