Bobby Deol starrer ‘Bandar’, directed by Anurag Kashyap, has arrived in a major pre-release tussle with national chains PVR Inox and Cinepolis over screen allocation. Several movies are clashing at the box office including ‘Peddi’ (Hindi), ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’, ‘He-Man And The Masters of the Universe’ and ‘Bandar’. Hence, the makers of the Bobby Deol starrer decided to take a step and stop the screening of the film on national channels.
‘Bandar’ makers request multiplexes to stop showing the film
According to the Bollywood Hungama report, the team was not chasing a wide release but a targeted one. It said, “The makers of ‘Bandar’ had planned for an audience-oriented release by asking for only 4 shows in 5-screen multiplexes and 3 shows in 4-screen plexes after 1 PM, which seems a fair and doable ask. But since PVR Inox and Cinepolis are distributing ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’ and PVR is distributing ‘Peddi’ partially for Jio Studios, national channels have allotted unfair shows to ‘Bandar’.“As a result, the film team asked the major channels not to show the film. The report added, “The Bandar team has taken a firm stand and asked the national channels to cancel their film’s schedule until the screening is arranged, especially as the ‘Bandar’ officials feel that the advance sales of ‘Peddi’ and ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’ are staggering.”
The officials of ‘Bandar’ deal with the issue
Zee Studios Distribution & Revenue Head Girish Johar broke his silence on the standstill, insisting that the production house’s demands are completely reasonable. He shared, “Our request is very fair. The producers and we have designed a certain release strategy targeting the core target audience. Accordingly, we have asked theaters across the country to give certain screenings of the movie, which is 3-4 shows on 5 screens from 1:00 PM onwards. The duration of the film is also not very long (130 minutes). We know there is a big wave of layoffs this week. That’s why we didn’t go for a wide release. The plexuses keep working, and they keep going back and forth.’He also stated that ‘Bandar’ is not chasing an opening weekend show; he is playing a longer game. He said, “We are planning to release it in 500-600 screens. It is a smart release strategy. We want to start with word of mouth and then increase the exposure as we believe the film will have long legs at the box office.”
More about ‘Bandar’
Directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film stars Bobby Deol. Sanya MalhotraSapna Pabbi, Saba Azadand Jitendra Joshi. The film opens in theaters today, June 5, 2026.
