Yash Chopra eyes tier II cities

Filmmaker Yash Chopra, whose Yash Raj Films has just secured a higher share of the revenue from theatres in big cities, has now turned his attention to tier II cities, where he is said to be asking for even more.

Armed with a reputation to deliver hits consistently, this week struck a deal with movie exhibitors under which his company will get 50 per cent of the revenue earned through ticket sales in the first week, 45 per cent in the second and 40 per cent in the third.

For the tier II cities, according to industry sources, Chopra is demanding 60, 55 and 50 per cent of the ticket sales in the first, second and third weeks, respectively.

"We have signed on with the production house for all the forthcoming movies under the Yash Raj Films banner," said Cinemax general manager (marketing & sales) Devang Sampat about the arrangement in the big cities.

However, most of the major multiplexes have closed the five-movie deal the production house proposed but only in certain cities. They still haven't reached a deal for exhibiting films in tier II cities like Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Aurangabad, Indore, etc.

Multiplex owners hope to reach an agreeable revenue-share arrangement before the weekend.

"Inox has signed on with Yash Raj Films till year end on terms put forth by the production house. However, this is true only for Inox properties in Maharashtra," said Shrikanth Hazare, vice president - marketing, Inox.

The theatre chain is still negotiating with the production house for its properties in Indore, Kolkata, Banglore and Chennai. PVR Cinema and Shringar Cinemas faces a similar dilemma.

While Shringar Cinemas' spokesperson refused to comment, PVR Cinema's COO-films cell, Ashish Saxena said, "We have agreed on Yash Raj Films' revenue sharing proposition and have closed the deal for our properties in North India. But, PVR is in talks to finalise deals for tier II cities. We hope to close the deal soon."