On Friday, along with the major releases Knock Out and Aakrosh, the Himesh Reshammiya starrer and Pooja Bhatt directed Kajraare was also released. But no one knew about it, neither Himesh nor Pooja.
Just the producer Bhushan Kumar of T-Series who released the film in just two theatres knew of it. So, did you ever hear of a hush-hush release that too in today’s Bollywood when a movie’s release without marketing could be a dangerous bet?
But why was Kajraare, a movie with a list of chart-busters by Himesh and a new Pakistani bombshell Mona Laiza, released only in two screens across India?
It’s believed that the producer Bhushan Kumar was getting a good price for the satellite rights of the film. But for that the movie should have a theatrical release as per the agreement, so Bhushan did the needful and released it in only two theatres - New Empire in Mumbai and Apollo in Pune.
It’s also said that Bhushan asked for Rs 1 crore from Himesh for the promotion of the film to which the singer simply said no. Moreover, Bhushan had already paid Rs 12 crore out of Rs 15 crore to Himesh as a part of his three films deal with T-series. As a producer he has profited because of the Kajraare music album.
It’s clear that the producer wasn’t interested in spending money for the promotions of the film, and to recover the cost, selling the satellite rights appeared to him a better business option.
Talking about the incident, Pooja Bhatt’s father director-producer Mahesh Bhatt tells a daily, “I have been in the industry from 1971 and never before have I seen this kind of release for a film of this stature.”
Himesh next movie A New Love Ishtory, which is directed by Sarfarosh fame John Matthew Matthan, is also with T-series. His last film with the company, Karzzzz, was a BO bummer.
