MUMBAI: In December 2023, Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki and Prabhas starrer Salaar faced issues of screen sharing which grabbed headlines. Salaar makers had then decided to pull their shows from a few cinema halls in the South and  accused the multiplex chains of ‘unfair trade practice. Despite negotiations later, some halls played Dunki while others played Salaar.

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Now a nearly sold out cinema Hall in Hyderabad playing Hanuman shows, replaced them with Mahesh Babu starrer Guntur Kaaram. A source told a news portal, “It’s unheard of to see a show, which is nearly house full, being replaced by shows of a film which is not doing as well. This is unacceptable and it would have been understandable if Guntur Kaaram had a huge demand too. However, it hasn’t performed as per expectations while shows of Hanuman are full everywhere. The demand for it is crazy and yet, it’s getting a raw deal.”

Another source stated, “Theatres have the power to reduce or increase shows. But this happens as per the demand and supply usually. In an ideal scenario, Hanuman’s shows should have increased while that of Guntur Kaaram should have reduced since the latter is a crowd-puller. But in this scenario, the opposite has happened.”

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On 13th January, Hanuman makers filed a complaint with the Telugu Film Producers Council (TFPC) for alleged unfair practices. As per an agreement, some cinema halls in Telangana were to screen Hanuman from 12th January but some theaters failed to honor the agreement. Distributor and producer, Niranjan Reddy, thus filed a complaint with the TFPC. 

As per the statement, “The theatres did not screen the movie Hanuman as per the agreement. The distributors and producers suffered huge losses. So these theatres must immediately start showing the movie Hanuman and bear the loss so far. Such moves affect the entire Telugu film industry which runs based on faith, morality and justice.”

Meanwhile, Guntur Kaaram and Hanuman are not the only Telugu films to release during Makar Sankranti; Venkatesh-starrer Saindhav released on January 13 while Nagarjuna-starrer Naa Saami Ranga arrived in cinemas on January 14. Hanuman however has come out with unprecedented success and has had a huge run and already collected Rs 50 cr.

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Credit-BollywoodHungama