Eid-ul-Azha films: Fortune favours hall owners after two deathly years

With the release of three much-anticipated films (Poran, Din - The Day and Psycho) on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha this year, multiplex and single screen owners are enthralled to observe the response of the moviegoers after two devastating business years.

Although several hall owners are unhappy with the absence of Dhallywood megastar Shakib Khan’s new films which always rake in profits, many were surprised to see the line of the audience for the tickets of these three films.

Among the releases, ‘Poran’, directed by Raihan Rafi and based on the 2019 infamous Rifat murder case in Barguna, has been leading the race in terms of audience response and ticket sales.

Visiting several branches of Star Cineplex in the city on Friday, there was a noticeable crisis of tickets for the Eid films. Interested moviegoers had queued up in front of the ticket counters to grab the tickets for the shows of the day, however, failed because of the crisis.

Even the cast and crews of these films are not able to collect the tickets, which is a rare scenario in the industry. Audiences have been looking for the next-day schedules, to enjoy these Eid releases.

“This is utterly surprising, yet a much satisfactory scenario at the same time, that our audiences are showing this much interest in Bangladeshi films,” said Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, senior manager, media and marketing department of Star Cineplex.

He added that due to audience demand, Star Cineplex had to increase the shows of ‘Poran’ which previously had less number of screens. Ananta Jalil’s ‘Din - The Day’ is also getting good response, he said.

The cast and crew members of these three films are also moving from one district to another in order to promote their films. These two films received very good responses in the first week.

Meanwhile ‘Din - The Day’ is also is getting a dominant response across 115 screens all over Bangladesh. This film secured the highest number of screens amongst these three films.

“After the massive loss we suffered due to the corona pandemic, these incredible crowd responses are again making us hopeful. These films are boosting the industry and we hope that the filmmakers will continue the practice of making better films so that the audience response remains positive, not only on the festive occasions but throughout the year,” Mesbah said.