Empuran advance booking figures raise manipulation doubts

Empuran advance booking ifigres are manipulated and done under the system of corporate bookings is the charge levelled by many in the trade. Main reason is that Veera Dheera Sooran of Vikram, Nithin Robinhood and Mad Square 2 in Telugu States are lagging behind this the Tamil and Telugu dubbing version of Empuran in booking platform. Vikram film advance booking has come as a shock. These films now depend on word of mouth opinion to get the crowds, It was only today in Chennai and yesterday in Hyderabad that Empuran conducted a media meet. VDS has had Vikram- S J surya and Dushara Vijayan all over internet media as part of promotions. At the Chennai press meet the query was raised as to how a Malayalam film has crossed 10 cr advance booking which is more than a Bollywood film, Prithviraj updated it and said it was 60 crores and it was something that they too did not expect and hoped that the film lived up to the expectations. One trade expert on social media wrote, “The film is already getting a lot of advance bookings. So there is really no reason to make corporate bookings. This is totally unnecessary. Don’t overdo corporate bookings so much that it becomes clear to even the common public.” he practice of corporate and self-bookings has often been called out in Bollywood when films like Pathaan, Chhaava, Dunki, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani, and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan were accused of similar tactics, even though those accounted for only 5-10% of total sales.

In the case of Empuraan, it seems the self-bookings have touched the level of Sky Force, where more than 50% of the ticket sales were rigged, according to experts like Komal Nahta. Incidentally Prithviraj the Empuran Director was co-producer of Sky Force. As M9 puts it- However, the real test will be in the film’s footfalls post-release. If Empuraan sustains strong occupancies after day one, it will validate the genuine interest among audiences. However, if the film witnesses a sharp drop post the initial weekend, it would further fuel speculation about the advance bookings. At the Chennai meet, Lyca and Red Giant representative’s were present. Gokulam Gopalan distributes Tamil Nadu too.