Aditya N
Aditya N
Many reports and rumors around corporate bookings in the Hindi Film Industry, famous as Bollywood, have recently surfaced in media circles. Corporate bookings are nothing but film producers reserving tickets for themselves, which are then distributed to various contest winners among the audiences and closed circles of that producer. Usually, these are done with the branding partners of a particular film. Bollywood does not have a promotional culture like the Southern part of the Indian film industry, such as the Teaser Launch and Pre-release events. However, the culture of Corporate Bookings has gained strength significantly in the recent past, around the COVID-19 pandemic, to be precise.
It is neither a bad practice nor a harmful thing because the money will be spent by the makers only, and no public amount is being used. It helps a film gain more numbers at the box office, as the boosted numbers will get a bit more popular with audiences. However, a few sections of the Bollywood Media and Trade sector are trying to project it as a crime and put the Heroes and Producers in a bad light.
Some of the Bollywood trade sites have even gone to the level that they have stated that almost all of the 2023 films have involved Corporate Bookings, and the shocking thing is the amounts they have stated to blame the Producers. According to a few Hindi trade portals, Rs 70 crore was spent on corporate bookings for two big films released last December. The sites did not mention any film’s name, but they have hinted indirectly by planting their agenda without any proof.
But some senior Bollywood Trade persons say corporate bookings will be at most 10% of a film’s lifetime collections. So it would be better for the other section of trade or industry circles to come up with proof rather than randomly stating some big numbers and falsely accusing the heroes and producers regarding their film collections.
