The impasse was created when producers started demanding a fixed revenue share deal from multiplexes in place of a varying system of splitting box office returns. Currently, the producer gets 45-48% of revenues in the first week of a film’s release, and their share goes down progressively over the subsequent weeks. By the fourth week, the producer gets only 30% of revenues, according to this Business Standard story. Producers have been demanding a flat 50% share in place of the current system and suspended all releases and marketing activities till this demand was met on 4 April. Since then, occupancies in multiplexes have been down to 10%.

However, multiplexes are estimated to account for some 60-70% of total box office collections. When asked how producers can cope with the drop in collections, Bhatt said: “That’s a blunder we made. We created this system. Now we are working on alternative strategies to distribute our films.”

Unlike Multiplexes, single-creen cinemas work on a rental basis. Producers pay a fixed rent to the cinema owner to exhibit their films. “With single screen cinemas, we can effectively get a 75-80% share of collections,” Bhatt explained. In absolute terms, however, the collections will be lower, as multiplexes, which provide a better viewing experience and ambience, are able to get a much higher ticket rate from viewers than single screen cinemas.