The self-booking trend started long ago in Bollywood, with some of the biggest production houses engaging in such false practices. Unfortunately, the same trend has now entered Tollywood as well, with many filmmakers trying to project their films as massive hits.
Self-bookings are being done with the help of a ticketing portal. Certain seats are intentionally booked in key centres and are shown as ticket sales on the platform, including in hourly trends. The ticketing portal being compromised is an open secret, with some producers openly admitting this harsh reality. Not just bookings, even the users’ ratings can be managed by offering commissions.
This false practice is not restricted to India alone. It has come to light that certain movie teams themselves bought tickets in the USA to create the impression that their films had huge hype among audiences. Along with self-bookings, another ugly practice gaining ground is the release of inflated box-office collection posters.
Last year, for a star hero’s film, the production house released a fake day 1 collection poster that was 100% higher than the actual numbers. The film struggled to even come close to that figure during its entire run, and that single poster became a black mark in the actor’s career. Similarly, there is a big-budget film whose box-office numbers were heavily manipulated and falsely projected as a massive blockbuster, while the organic collections told a completely different story.
Even for the latest Sankranthi releases, there is a huge difference between official posters and actual collections. Though the films are performing well, the inflated posters are creating unnecessary confusion. A 10–15% difference between producer figures and trade figures can still be understood, but the current manipulation has gone far beyond reasonable limits. Producers may believe that inflated posters will work as publicity and bring more audiences to theatres.
If they still think they are outsmarting audiences with fake posters and self-bookings, the joke is on them. These practices do more harm than good and only damage the credibility of actors and producers. Distributors and exhibitors are the ones who ultimately suffer the most. It is high time the industry focused on creating quality content rather than relying on such unethical practices.