Richa Chadha talks about low screen count of India's Oscar entry, 'Homebound'

Mumbai, Oct 9 (IANS) Actress Richa Chadha, who was last seen in ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, is weighing on the issue of screencount for films which are important to society.

On Thursday, the actress took to her X, formerly Twitter, and shared a long note in which she spoke about independent film struggling with lesser number of screens compared to tentpole or mainstream film, and how despite all the international accolades and critical acclaim, the producer on independent or meaningful films end up incurring loses.

She quoted the example of the recent release ‘Homebound’, and shared how despite the film being bankrolled by one of Hindi cinema’s biggest production houses, Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, the film is facing an acute shortage of footfall.

An Internet user put up a tweet, saying, “This p***** me off so much, so many people wanted to watch it but he barely put it on any proper screens. If the producer can’t sell the country’s academy award entry, with these fantastic reviews, it’s a skill issue”.

Responding to the same, the actress posted, “Hmmm… the film got so many shows, precisely because the producer had a clout. I think we had fewer shows for ‘Masaan’. Each screen, each KDM costs money. Each show costs money. Exhibitors weigh that against literally the number of ppl in the hall that buy samosas”.

She further mentioned, “And fewer people go because the ticket prices are so high…single screens with affordable pricing have vanished over time. The Producer sits with losses for the film LONG after the awards are over won, actors gain markets and credibility and every one moves on. So what’s killing independent films? exorbitant ticket prices, the P and A bottleneck. - fewer screens - monopoly of a couple of ppl on the Screens (sic)”.

--IANS

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