Gulshan Devaiah attempted to dissect the nuances of the theatrical distribution model and said that a lot of factors influence whether a film does well at the box office or not. He also addressed the commercial failure of his latest film, ‘Ulajh’, which starred Janhvi Kapoor in the lead role. He said that it’s difficult to pinpoint one reason why the political thriller didn’t click with audiences, but said that if it were up to him, every feature film would be released in theatres.
In an interview with ‘Bollywood Hungama’, Gulshan said that he had ‘no idea’ why ‘Ulajh’ didn’t work but proceeded to address the various facets of the theatrical business, including ticket prices, competition and star value. He said, “Why do people go to the theatres? I ask myself this question as well. I went to watch ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ because I had a whale of a time watching the first one in theatres. Something is there in every project that draws us. For instance, there is excitement to watch a Salman Khan film or a Rajkummar Rao film or an Alia Bhatt film. There is something that you can expect from them, but even some of their movies don’t work.”
About ‘Ulajh’, Gulshan said, “If I myself have certain standards that I like to follow for going to the cinema, then it’s possible that ‘Ulajh’ didn’t appeal to people. Maybe they didn’t like the trailer. It could be a variety of reasons. We don’t really know. We do our best and sometimes our best isn’t good enough. It’s not the audience’s fault.”
Gulshan said that competition has also increased now and that audiences always have the option of watching a movie at home. But he said that he rejects the notion of certain films being suited only for streaming platforms.