No screening for critics till Friday, Bollywood filmmakers play it safe

Bollywood producers have discovered a new way of protecting their films from being ravaged by unkind critics before release. There are no more screenings for the press, until Friday, till the movie is finally released to the public. The makers are hoping that the audience won’t get influenced by unfavourable reviews and boycott films right from its opening weekend.

In the last three weeks, two major films have adapted a conspiracy of secretiveness to combat unfavourable press. Anurag’s Jagga Jasoos and now Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal were not shown to the critics until the morning of the film’s release.

Now, Akshay Kumar and the producers of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha have taken a collective decision to refrain from screening the film to media persons until Friday morning. “It is the new trend, rapidly catching on in Bollywood, and we are all for it. The decision to not screen Toilet... for critics until Friday was taken by Akshay and we concurred happily, In fact, some production houses like Fox Star and Yash Raj Films have followed the no press screening until Friday policy for years. Now, other production houses are following the same pattern,” says a producer on condition of anonymity.

In fact, the secrecy is a sure sign of insecurity on the filmmakers’ part. If you don’t have the confidence to let critics watch a film in advance then your film is probably on shaky grounds. Film critic Raja Sen explains, “What’s the point of making films if you’re scared of showing them? This contraband-like treatment for cinema is happening all over the world now, and it’s shameful.”