After Shah Rukh Khan did it for Jab Harry Met Sejal, now Akshay Kumar has decided to not hold any press screenings of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha
Bollywood producers have discovered a new way of protecting their films from being ravaged by unkind critics before release — no media screenings until Friday when the film releases to the public. This way, they hope that the audience won’t be influenced by unfavourable reviews and decide to not watch a film.
The new strategy
In the last one month, all films (apart from Mubarakan) have adapted a conspiracy of secretiveness to combat unflattering press. Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos and Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal this week, were not shown to the critics until the morning of the film’s release. In fact, JHMS was not released a day before in Dubai, as is the norm. The film only opened on Thursday evening in UAE, by which time it was too late for the reviews to float back home.
Does it help?
Not that the cloak of secrecy helped the films find a wider audience. Now, Akshay Kumar and the producers of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha have taken a collective decision to refrain from screening the film to mediapersons until Friday morning. “It is the new trend that’s rapidly catching on in Bollywood, and we are all for it. The decision to not screen Toilet: Ek Prem Katha for critics until Friday was taken by Akshay and we concurred happily. In fact, some production houses like Fox Star and Yash Raj have followed the no-press-screenings-until-Friday policy for years. Now, other production houses are following the same pattern,” says a producer on condition of anonymity.
Show ’em the movie
The source further adds, “In fact, the secrecy is a sign of insecurity on the part of the filmmakers. If you don’t have the confidence to let critics watch a film in advance, then your film is probably on shaky grounds.” Says film critic Raja Sen, “What’s the point of making films if you’re scared of showing them? This contraband-like treatment for cinema is happening all over the world now, and it’s shameful.”
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