Filmmaker Srijit Mukherji on Wednesday responded to charges levelled by actor-producer Dev a day earlier over alleged denial of cinema shows to Projapoti 2, amid a public dispute around show distribution for Bengali Christmas releases.
The controversy began after Dev on Tuesday claimed that Projapoti 2, starring him alongside Mithun Chakraborty, did not receive shows at a South Kolkata theatre despite its posters being displayed.
Sharing a photograph of a cinema hall, Dev wrote, “This year many people have given me many labels, some calling me a mafia, others a megastar. Even then, despite my film’s poster being put up in cinema halls, my film did not get space. I hope the cinema hall owners are happy, because if they survive, Bengali cinema will survive. May every Bengali film do well. My fight for Bengali cinema will continue.”
Projapoti 2 is battling it out against Srijit’s Lawho Gouranger Naam Rey and Arindam Sil’s Mitin — Ekti Khunir Sondhane at the box office, with all three films releasing on 25 December.
On Wednesday Srijit responded to Dev’s allegations in a Facebook post, without naming anyone. He said that show allocation was decided through discussion and mutual agreement among all stakeholders.
“#LGNR gets ONE show at Navina and NONE at Priya and Ajanta as per the INTERNAL and MUTUAL understanding of ALL the stakeholders. This is the ONLY single screen show #LGNR is getting in South Kolkata. Even with this and with overall MUCH LESSER number of shows, the team is happy with the fact that ALL stakeholders have MUTUALLY agreed to this distribution. May all three Bangla films succeed in this Festive season,” his post said.
Disputes over hall allocation are not new to Tollywood. Similar clashes were witnessed during the Durga Puja release window earlier this year, prompting several industry meetings aimed at resolving the issue.
A Screening Committee of Bengali films in October decided that not more than three Bengali movies will be released during festive seasons in the future to safeguard the overall business interests of the industry.
