The bad business logic behind releasing so many movies during Eid

Eid-ul-Adha is knocking at the door. There is very little time left and the film industry is on overdrive. Producers and directors are now rushing to give the country's audiences several movies in the upcoming festival.

There will be around 11 movies released during this Eid, including 'Priyotma', 'Surongo', 'Ontorjal', 'Prohelika', 'Laal Shari', 'Kagojer Bou', 'Casino', 'MR9', Jontrona', 'Revenge' and 'Danger Zone'. Some of these movies are awaiting censor board clearance, while some of them have already been cleared.

Shakib Khan's films are once again in the list of upcoming releases. Alongside, there is Afran Nisho's debut film. Additionally, there are films featuring Siam, Bidya Sinha Mim, Shabnom Bubly, Apu Biswas, Mahfuz Ahmed, and several other household names.

Meanwhile, the director "Surongo" Raihan Rafi is heavily promoting his film as is Deepankar Deepan, the director of the film "Antorjal". The producer of the film "Prohelika," Chayanika Choudhury, has already held a press conference and started a promotion campaign. 

Apu Biswas has ventured into film production for the first time with a film called "Lal Shari," in which she has also acted. Although there were some setbacks trying to release it during the last Eid, she is trying her best to release it during the upcoming Eid.

This Eid will see nearly the same amount of movies released as the last one. However, out of all the releases last time around, only two saw some success and were shown in theatres. The others did not do so well. 

According to the theatre owners association, there were 160 movie theatres open during Eid-ul-Fitr. Many of them close down afterwards. Right now, excluding Cineplex, there are about 100 theatres open instead of 160. This means there is not enough facility to release such a huge number of movies.

Producers, film directors and theatre owners are all now demanding to bring about a change in this tradition of releasing movies during Eid. 

"Several years ago, there were over a thousand cinemas operating throughout the country. Releasing even 15 films was no issue at that time," said Mia Alauddin, the vice president of the Cinema Hall Malik Samity. "Films that failed commercially would still be shown in over fifty cinemas. However, now even good films do not reach 50 theatres." 

Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar, a prominent director said back in the day the producers' association had set a rule that no more than four films could be released in one week or during Eid. "However, due to the continuous pressure from the producers, that rule was relaxed. That's why the current problem exists. Personally, I think that no more than three films should be released during Eid."

"During the last Eid, I released one film. Although it wasn't screened in many theatres, it performed well in the cineplexes. However, is it possible to sustain a business solely through cineplexes? asked producer Md. Iqbal 

If there were more than 100 cineplexes, the business would be different, he pointed out.