Shershah actor Sidharth Malhotra is desperate for a box office hit, and he’s banking heavily on Karan Johar’s new movie, Yodha, to deliver just that. Directed by Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha, Yodha also features Disha Patani and Raashii Khanna in prominent roles.
The advance bookings for Yodha are now open, but the initial response has been disappointing. In the first 24 hours, the film struggled to reach even Rs 40 lakh in bookings, indicating a lukewarm reception from audiences.
Speculations are rife on social media that the production house might have started to do self-bookings and corporate bookings to hype advance numbers.
A user noted that around 15 shows in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR seem to have been self-booked, with theaters either packed or completely empty, suggesting the possibility of bought-out “housefull” shows.
This isn’t the first time Karan Johar has faced criticism for alleged corporate bookings. Similar accusations surfaced during the release of Rocky Ranii Ki Prem Kahani last year. The collections were shown as 12 crore net whereas in real value it was only 8-9 crore.
While corporate bookings are a common practice in the film industry, their impact on a movie’s success is limited. Even blockbusters like PK, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Happy New Year saw heavy corporate bookings, though the issue only gained significant attention recently.
In December 2023, Salaar and Dunki faced similar allegations of self-bookings to inflate box office figures.
However, it’s important to note that such tactics rarely transform a flop into a hit. Pumping money into ticket purchases may inflate collections by a maximum of 10%, but it’s unlikely to change the fate of a poorly received film.
For producers, investing more money through self-bookings risks worsening the financial outcome of a movie rather than improving it.
