Rs 100 cr at stake

The Shiv Sena’s protests against My Name is Khan continued on Wednesday as advance bookings for the film, that releases on Friday, remained shut.

The Shiv Sena’s protests against My Name is Khan continued on Wednesday as advance bookings for the film, that releases on Friday, remained shut.

HT Image

According to sources at multiplexes, there were few advance bookings on the Internet too. This raised the question: Who will bear the losses if the film is jeopardised?

An amount of Rs 100 crore is at stake. HT had reported that Fox Star Studios acquired the distribution rights of MNIK for about Rs 81 crore, including prints and publicity.

“The film has to net at least Rs 60 crore in India to recover the investment,” said trade analyst Amod Mehra. “The Mumbai circuit with Maharashtra contributes about 40 pr cent of the country’s total collections, which would be Rs 20 odd crore minimum.”

Komal Nahta, a trade veteran, said, “Approximately Rs 2.5 to 3 crore per day is at stake in Mumbai city and Maharashtra. Although Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan have sold the film to Fox Star, it doesn’t mean that their responsibility is over. At a press conference in London, Shah Rukh apologised to Karan and Fox Star and promised that he would make up for the losses they might incur because of the stand he’s taken.”

The buzz was that the exhibitors would take a call on the screening by late Thursday evening or early Friday morning. “Presently, they’re all waiting and watching to see how things will turn out after the distributors and exhibitors meet the law enforcing agencies,” an industry insider said.