The Legend of Maula Jatt by Bilal Lashari is still breaking box office records, even though more than half of Pakistan’s theatres aren’t showing it. Nadeem Mandviwalla, the film’s distributor, responded to rumors that his company, Mandviwalla Entertainment, and critical exhibitors in the country were at odds.
At a press conference in Karachi on Thursday, October 20, 2022, the CEO of Mandviwalla Entertainment tried to set the record straight. He said that before the release of Lashari’s magnum opus, he had given cinema owners multiple plans to ensure that it wouldn’t affect how they ran their businesses.
Mandviwalla said that his plans called for theatre owners to raise ticket prices for only the first 11 days of the film’s run at the box office. This was to give the film’s producers, who he said made a terrific big-budget movie, a small pay raise.
He said, “Everywhere when big movies come out, theatre owners or groups support them by giving them more screens so that they can make as much money as possible in the first two weeks.”
“In the alternative, where there aren’t enough screens, prices go up, and a bigger share of the box office goes to the distributors. The goal is to help the movie make money at the box office in its first few weeks and help the distributors and producers without cutting into the theatre’s revenue. “A win-win for everyone.”
Mandviwalla also said, “Unfortunately, in Pakistan, some cinema groups chose not to go the extra mile and support the most expensive Pakistani production to date. They justified their decision not to do so by misrepresenting facts.”
“I’m here to give you all the facts and numbers so you can understand the situation and how it affects the economy, and I’m happy to answer any questions you have.”
He also talked about two different strategies he gave exhibitors and said he let them choose between the two. According to Mandviwalla, his only job was to convince the exhibitors that the producers’ profits needed to be as high as possible.
“Of the six big players in the cinema business, three agreed with the strategies we gave them, and three didn’t, which is their right,” Mandviwalla said. “There are 38 cinema owners in Pakistan, and 32–34 of them agreed with the options we gave them.” But we couldn’t do anything when the last four asked for flexibility.”
“We had promised those with whom we made a deal that we would get everyone on the same page. When these four refused, it meant that we would have to break our promise with others, which would have cost us and the producers a lot of money,” Mandviwalla said.
Mandviwalla also clarified that he had nothing to do with rumors that the distributor and theatre owners were in a stalemate or fighting. He said, “I have nothing to do with these rumors… I only made a plan for the film’s producers… This movie isn’t mine, and I don’t own it, so I can’t make decisions for the people who made it.
“I showed the producers my plans for strategies, and they chose the one they thought would work best. “We never meant to hurt other people’s businesses or make decisions for them,” Mandviwalla said.
This week, Encyclopedia and Lashari films, a joint production with AAA Motion Pictures and its distributors Mandviwalla Entertainment (in Pakistan) and Moviegoers Entertainment (in other countries), said that The Legend of Maula Jatt had a smashing opening both in Pakistan and in other countries.
The biggest Punjabi language film made in Pakistan brought in Rs510 million in its first weekend. Geo Films, the most extensive media company in Pakistan, is helping to show the movie there
