Gulshan Devaiah: Small budget films like ‘8 Am Metro’ suffer due to lack of good show timings in theatres | Hindi Movie News – Times of India

In a short but insightful interview, ETimes sits down with the talented Gulshan Devaiah to discuss the challenges faced by small-budget movies in the current release market. With his recent film ‘8 AM Metro‘, garnering praise from audiences, Gulshanshares his thoughts on the size of audience the film deserves and the competition it faces from other forms of storytelling.He also reflects on the impact of rescheduling release dates and offers his perspective on potential solutions for small producers in navigating this ever-evolving industry.

Your movie ‘8 AM Metro’ has received a lot of love from viewers. However, do you believe that the film has reached the number of the audience it truly deserves? Do you feel it deserved a larger audience?

Honestly, I don’t know what the movie deserves or doesn’t deserve, but I can share my experience and observations. It’s becoming increasingly challenging to capture the attention of audiences and even more difficult to attract them to theaters. It has always been tough to achieve success with theatrical releases, but now people have more options to experience stories, often at a lower cost than during the TV or VHS era. The magic of cinema on the big screen now has to compete with the versatility and cost-effectiveness of mobile devices. That’s the competition we face. Small films with limited releases were always going to face an uphill battle. The magic of cinema needs to find a way to entice audiences back to theaters. It will never be easy, but I hope we can achieve it, and it’s not up to any one individual.

Out of roughly 30 releases so far, almost 22 have flopped. Do you believe small movies have a chance in the current release market?

Small-budget films have never had it easy, and there were flops even before the era of OTT platforms. The theatrical business model is ruthless compared to the OTT business model. It’s not going to be easy moving forward under the existing model.

Rescheduling of release dates impacts small movies the most. Do you agree with this belief? And do you think such moves destroy the release prospects of small movies and individual producers?

I believe what impacts small budget films the most is the lack of good show timings. Even with good word of mouth, afternoon shows on weekends won’t be sufficient. There has been a constant struggle to secure favourable show timings.

What do you think is the solution for small producers?

To be honest, I have thought about this extensively, but I don’t have any concrete ideas. Perhaps one solution could be for small producers to negotiate deals with exhibitors to secure good listings and show timings. It’s not just about small films; it’s a part of the larger problem faced by theatrical releases. How can we consistently capture the attention of audiences, and how can the business model adapt to the stiff competition from OTT platforms? Maybe if producers, both big and small, decide that feature films will only release in theaters and not sell to OTT platforms. Of course, networks can create their own films. I don’t know… maybe all features must be required to release in theaters. Perhaps government intervention is needed to preserve the magic of cinema. These are just speculations and possibilities.