Director Vikramaditya Motwane has called for a more balanced distribution of theater screens in India, urging increased accessibility for small and mid-budget films. The filmmaker cites the recent success of 12th Fail, starring Vikrant Massey, as a prime example. With its positive word-of-mouth, the film grew steadily at the box office, demonstrating the potential for smaller films to find commercial success.
"For any movie to work in a theatre beyond the opening day and the weekend, it needs time for word of mouth to build, and people to come into theatres," the Udaan director stated in a PTI interview. "In case of 12th Fail, people were talking about the film in the fourth and 12th week, it was allowed to breathe."
He acknowledges the commercial realities of theater owners, highlighting the limited number of screens available in India compared to other countries. "We've 10,000 screens for 1.3 billion people, there are 30,000 screens in the US for 300 million people," the Lootera director said. "We can't blame movie theatres because everybody wants to make as much money as possible."
However, the Trapped director proposes a solution: a balanced approach. "We need a balance," he suggests. "70 percent of our screens can be for [big-budget films], but 30 percent of it needs to be for a certain kind of film. There should be a little bit of diversity."
This call for diversity reflects the contrasting fates of 12th Fail and Varun Grover's All India Rank, a critically acclaimed film that struggled to maintain theater presence despite positive reviews. "If every film had that much time to breathe, then it would be a success story," the 47-year-old director remarked. "However, All India Rank is out of theatres in two weeks."
Speaking of the professional front, he has two exciting projects on the horizon. He is directing the series Black Warrant, based on the book by Tihar Jail's former superintendent, and a cyber-thriller film titled Control featuring actress Ananya Panday.
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