Indian cinema using BLOCK BOOKING tickets to boost positive perception around films?

New Delhi: Film trade analyst Komal Nahta recently took social media by storm with his latest YouTube video aimed at exposing block booking practices and inflated Box Office collections in Indian cinema. He also revealed why such methods and techniques are being adopted to lure moviegoers.

“This industry works on perception. Actors want to be perceived as superstars. Producers want their films to be seen as hits. Directors and writers want the same,” Komal said. He added, “When cinema lovers don’t like a film that much, there are two or three ways to create the perception that the movie is a hit.”

Komal gave the example of the recently released film Sky Force, featuring Akshay Kumar in the lead. He highlighted that two tricks were used for the Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapoor directorial. The first was refunds on digital ticket booking platforms and the other was block booking.

What is Block Booking?

According to Komal, block booking is when the remaining tickets of a cinema show are purchased by producers or someone else in order to label the show as housefull. However, when a real person visits the theater, they will only see the actual audience who bought the tickets.

Sky Force Collection

According to Sacnilk, Sky Force has raked in approximately Rs 111.23 crore so far in India. If we talk about global numbers, the industry tracker states that the film has grossed Rs 146 crore at the worldwide Box Office.

Alongside the 57-year-old hunk, Sky Force also features Sara Ali Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Sharad Kelkar, Mohit Chauhan, Manish Choudhary and Varun Badola in pivotal roles. It also marked the Hindi cinema debut of newcomer Veer Pahariya.

Produced by Maddock Films and Jio Studios, Sky Force brings to the big screen the story of India’s first airstrike at Pakistan’s Sargodha airbase during the Indo-Pak air war of 1965. It opened to mostly positive reviews.