For Rohit Shetty’s Dilwale, Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chilles Entertainment turned distributor for the first time. They sold most of their territories in India and kept few areas like Mumbai with them.
As the film was high on buzz and the return of SRK-Kajol was the highlight, the film was sold at a premium price.
However, due to certain controversies that got snowballed after Shah Rukh’s statement on intolerance, lot of regions didn’t get a proper release.
Unfortunately, most of the shows had to be cancelled in few states of the country due to protest by various right wing organisations.
They threatened to stop the screenings at local cinemas. Due to all this, the overall collections took a beating.
The worldwide collections of Dilwale is the highest for any Shah Rukh film but it was in India that the numbers were below expectation.
Earlier this month, at a press conference, Shah Rukh Khan said that he wasn’t happy with the Dilwale collections in India. He had said, “I don’t think the film has done as well as it should have. I am personally disappointed with that.”
He had also said, “To be honest, it has perhaps not done as well in India as I would like it to do. But overseas it has done very well in a lot of countries like Germany and Austria. It is quite thrilling that Indian films are reaching far and wide. There are a lot of business opportunities.”
Now, according to the trade buzz, Shah Rukh Khan has gone ahead and refunded 50 percent of the loss faced by the distributors.
Trade analyst Komal Nahata tweeted, “SRK does what few wud do. Refunds 50% of the loss of distributors of his Dilwale. That’s what u call a considerate producer.”
When contacted senior trade analyst Kumar Mohan said, “I appreciate whatever Shah Rukh has done. If the film doesn’t do well, why always the distributor should face losses. It’s a big step from Shah Rukh’s side and I believe this will turn into a practise. I am not saying it will become a trend but this should come into practice.”
When asked Vikas Mohan if Shah Rukh repaid the loss to the distributors he said, “There is no truth in this. If because of Dilwale, the current distributors are upset, in the future there will be another distributor for another film of his. No one pays back to the distributors.”
Down south, it is said that superstar Rajinikanth also takes ownership of his movies that sometimes don’t do well. He also is of the same belief that if there are losses, everyone should bear it and not just the distributors.
