'Dhurandhar' causing delays of most movie releases: Taran Adarsh on why March-April films are postponed

In an exclusive interview with DH Online, Taran Adarsh says that the reason behind the postponement of most films is to avoid competition with Dhurandhar and says it a wise, business-friendly decision.

March and April is the most volatile period for box office. However, this year, the months are going seemingly quiet, except for Dhurandhar: The Revenge's loud roars, the tremors of which were even felt at the global box office.

Big releases like Salman Khan's Maatrubhumi, Akshay Kumar's Bhooth Bangla, Awarapan 2, Dhamaal 4 and Pati Patni Aur Woh Do that were originally scheduled for March-April releases were pushed to a later date.

While some postponement announcements came with the disclaimer of production delays, most of these delays are credited to the storm created by Dhurandhar: The Revenge.

"There could be various reasons behind these delays because every film comes in with different kind of schedules. But there's one common reason in most films. It is Dhurandhar. A lot of films which were releasing during or in the close vicinity of Dhurandhar (The Revenge) have been postponed for obvious reasons. If there's a Tsunami or a typhoon, who would want to step out? So, Dhurandhar 2 is like a Tsunami which is unstoppable," movie critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh said while speaking exclusively to DH Online.

And this delay, Adarsh believes, was a wise decision. "It was a very wise and appropriate decision in terms of business. Let ego take a back seat, and let's be practical and think business," Adarsh said noting that Bhooth Bangla, which was originally scheduled to release on April 10 was shifted to April 17, was delayed to avoid competition with Dhurandhar: The Revenge.

While these delays look like a careful decision but frequent postponements not only hurt a film's buzz but also create confusion in the audience's minds.

"If a film is postponed repeatedly, it does affect the film's buzz because obviously the excitement starts waning down," Adarsh opined noting that the audience don't understand the reason behind it.

"They (audience) don't understand the reason. They don't understand the economics. When the stakes are so high, people think it's better to postpone. The producers are right in their ways. But the audience gets confused," Adarsh explained.

Dhurandhar 2's success is the "triumph of good cinema"

Adarsh, who have been actively reviewing and tracking the spy thriller's box office numbers, insisted that the Ranveer Singh starrer has come out as a complete shocker to the industry and have busted several cinema myths.

"It has shown us the true potential of theatrical business. There was a time when people said, "log theatre me aana nahin chahte" because ticket prices are so expensive. But the ticket prices were extremely expensive in this case, too, but still people have come back in large numbers. So all these myths were busted. It's a triumph of good cinema."

Taran Adarsh, movie critic and trade analyst

And given the raging success of the Aditya Dhar directorial, Adarsh feels, it's time for the film industry to reboot.

"It's time to rethink and reboot cinema. It's time to rework the strategies that the filmmakers had," he said, adding that while star power can guarantee footfall, content remains the king.

"Star power can guarantee curiosity and footfall for the first few shows. But eventually it all boils down to content. Dhurandhar is a classic example. The first part did not really start with a bang. But the way it picked up later was purely because of the content. Star power contributed, I'm not denying that but the content has to be right," Adarsh concluded.