This Thursday is set to see the return of one of Bollywood’s most formidable director-actor jodis- Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan. With the release officially set for Friday, it’s the paid previews which begin from Thursday evening onwards, 9pm to be precise at most screens.
Paid previews used to be a staple of the industry pre-Covid. A film conventionally releases every Friday, but paid previews allow a film to start garnering buzz an evening prior to the D-day. Many blockbusters, such as Stree 2 (2024) and Chennai Express (2013) in the past held paid previews, which not only catered to fan demand, but also raised massive hype, contributing to a big day 1 total the next day.
However, post Covid, only a handful of films- Shraddha Kapoor’s Stree 2 ( ₹9.40 crores) and Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar The Revenge opted for paid previews. Pawan Kalyan’s They Call Him OG grossed ₹23 crores. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “Paid previews used to happen very regularly earlier, for the keenly awaited films. Dhurandhar brought it back. And now with Bhooth Bangla, I think it’s going to become a healthy practice again.”
Dhurandhar The Revenge, in the most recent instance, had collected close to a whopping ₹50 crores in paid previews alone, shattering previous records.
Does he feel that they stopped because the main focus was on improving the dwindling theatre going numbers immediately after Covid, and because of paid previews an instant judgement would be passed on social media before the first release day? Taran adds, “If someone wants to put out spoilers, you can’t really stop them. But what paid previews allow is letting those people watch the film early, who were waiting for the film and can’t go for the morning or early shows on a Friday. Bhooth Bangla is a horror comedy, so watching it at night could work business-wise.”
Exhibitor Akkshay Rathie, director of Ashirwad Theatres, says sometimes some films opt for paid previews because of more reasons than just business, “There are a lot of producers in our industry who believe in astrology. Therefore there are days that they choose, a previous evening in this case, where apparently astrologically there’s better alignment for a particular title.”
In Bhooth Bangla’s case, he echoes the same sentiment as Taran, “The horror element in Bhooth Bangla gets enhanced when you are going to watch it in a cinema hall at night. This applies to any film with horror elements. From astrology to psychology, there can be various reasons for paid previews. And of course, it happens purely on the grounds of logic too, with extended weekends or holiday periods that you get to encash with paid previews.”
