Ramayana: Part 1’s much-hyped advance booking was supposed to open nationwide on October 20, coinciding with Dussehra — but Tuesday morning brought a surprise: most theatres had not opened reservations. The reason is a high-stakes commercial standoff between distributors and exhibitors over how to split the box office pie.
According to a Bollywood Hungama scoop, distributors are demanding significantly richer terms than those typical for major Hindi releases: a 60% share of net ticket revenue in Week 1 (versus the usual 52.5%), 50% in Week 2 (versus 45%) and 40% in Week 3 (versus 37.5%). Exhibitors, who must cover operating costs and screen-allocation risk for a film expected to command extensive showtimes across multiplexes and single screens, are said to be reluctant to accept the terms, and negotiations are continuing.
As of Tuesday morning, only a handful of cinemas had gone live with bookings — INOX Korum Mall in Thane in the Mumbai region and AMB Cinemas Kapali in Bengaluru among them — which does not yet amount to a nationwide postponement. But the makers had announced an unusually early booking window of more than two weeks, meant to build anticipation and give distributors early demand signals. A prolonged disagreement could delay show allocations and complicate the coordinated rollout, even if the November 5 theatrical release date itself remains unchanged.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra, Ramayana stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana, alongside Sunny Deol as Hanuman, with Dharma Productions handling Hindi distribution and regional partners covering key South Indian markets. North American presales have already crossed USD 500,000 two weeks out — which may be exactly why the stakes on this revenue-sharing tussle are so high.
