PVR Inox MD Ajay Bijli says “Small and mid-sized films are the bread and butter while Shah Rukh Khan is the JAM; also reveals, “Aamir Khan said, ‘Laapataa Ladies could have done better’”

Though the box office is back on its feet after the disastrous lockdown period, the pattern has undergone a change. While the big-scale films are performing better than before, the small and mid-sized films are still struggling. This year though it was better for such films. Yet, there’s a scope for them to collect more than what they did. Ajay Bijli, Managing Director, PVR Inox, opened up on this aspect and a lot more in a recent interview with Film Companion.

He said, “Some of these movies post Covid are stopping at Rs. 40 crores. They could have gone up to Rs. 80 to Rs. 100 crores. There’s still an audience that has the perception that films would arrive on OTT even though an eight-week gap is there. We at PVR are trying hard to remove that perception.”

He added, “12th Fail (2023) is an exception. It was a brilliant film and did over Rs. 80 crores. Laapataa Ladies could have easily (gone over Rs. 80 crores). I found Madgaon Express very funny. But it collected Rs. 35 crores. Crew also did Rs. 80 crores.”

Ajay Bijli further stated, “Slowly, the scenario is improving. Shaitaan, for example, had no reason to do so well. Srikanth will end up doing Rs. 60 crores.” He also added that such films need to do better because “Small and mid-sized films are the bread and butter while Shah Rukh Khan is the jam!”

Towards the end of the interaction, Ajay Bijli revealed, “I was sitting with Aamir in Delhi the other day. He said, ‘Laapataa Ladies could have done better’. But people were just sure ki woh abhi (digital) pe aa jaayegi. It came only after 8 weeks.”

He continued, “It was a case study as I don’t know how that movie got missed. 12th Fail, on the other hand, did not. Aamir is a dear friend but maybe, there was some marketing issue (with the film).”

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