Exclusive! Srijit Mukherji on X=Prem losing a show to Habji Gabji at Kolkata's Nandan cinema: One film getting special treatment is not fair

Srijit Mukherji and Raj Chakraborty are at loggerheads over getting a show at Nandan – one of the largest, government-owned and prestigious theatres in Kolkata. Srijit’s X=Prem and Raj’s Habji Gabji will be released on June 3. While the Parambrata Chatterjee-Subhashree Ganguly starrer family drama got a show, Srijit’s futuristic love story failed to make an entry at Nandan in the opening week. Both the directors and their fans got engaged in a verbal fight on Twitter on Thursday night. 

Srijit took to his social media handles and posted, “Two films released on the same day. Both applied for Nandan 1. But only one got through. Whereas ideally and in all fairness either both or neither should have. Why did this happen? Because though all films are equal, some films are more equal than others.”

Soon, punning his film name, Raj tweeted, “No point in creating mindless controversy. Films will speak the last word from tomorrow.”

In a cryptic Facebook post, Srijit retorted, “Of course the films will speak the last word. They have started speaking already. But it is impossible to be at par because of X=machinery.” 

While talking to OTTplay exclusively, Srijit said, “X=Prem is an A-rated film and targeted for young students. Not all the students have money to go to multiplexes. Hence the film needs to get a show in Nandan, where ticket prices are fairly affordable. Also, a large number of audiences can watch the film in one go. However, that is not happening this week. Nandan did not give me any reason for not screening my film. There will not be any show at Star as well. But that is understandable since they, by their policy, don’t screen A-rated films. Two films are releasing at one go and one is getting special treatment is not fair.”

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Interestingly, X=Prem is produced by the biggest and one of the most influential production houses in the city. Meanwhile, Raj is a ruling-party MLA and chairman of the Kolkata International Film Festival. 

The allegation of getting a show in Nandan through political influence is not new. Recently, Anik Dutta’s hit film Aparajito did not get any show at Nandan despite its popularity. Several experts alleged that it was because of Anik’s anti-government standpoint. However, there is a government body that takes decisions on which film to be screened at Nandan. 

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