Pyre loses 75% shows to Ramayana; AICWA seeks probe, FIRs: ‘Small films, big dreams’

A Rs 2.5-crore Himalayan drama with a cast of non-professional actors has become the unlikely flashpoint in a growing row over how Indian cinemas divide their screens between blockbusters and smaller films.

The All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) has asked Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to investigate why Vinod Kapri’s Pyre was pushed out of most theatres after Ramayana opened on November 5. The association wants police cases filed against any exhibitors or distributors found at fault, and is pressing the Centre to bring in rules that stop big releases from crowding out low-budget titles.

The complaint follows Kapri’s claim last week that his film had shed roughly three-quarters of its shows within days of Ramayana’s arrival. According to the director, Pyre had opened on about 80 screens and expanded to nearly 400 on the back of strong word of mouth and full houses, before being cut back to under 100.

In the letter, AICWA president Suresh Shyamlal Gupta made clear the association has no quarrel with Ramayana itself. He credited the big-budget production with providing work to hundreds of technicians, crew and junior artists across departments, and said he wanted it to do well so that producers profit and workers are paid on time. “I do not oppose Ramayana. It is a large-budget film that has given work to hundreds of workers, technicians, junior artists and artists across every department. It should succeed, so that producers profit and workers are paid on time,” Gupta wrote. “But a big film’s success should not come at the cost of a small film that audiences are already embracing.

Gupta pointed out that small productions make up most of the films India releases each year and are where new talent usually gets its first break. Their makers often struggle for years to raise funds and secure even a handful of screens, he said, and if films that are actually finding an audience are pulled anyway, independent producers may simply stop making them, with knock-on job losses running into lakhs. He cited HanuMan as proof that modestly budgeted films can draw huge audiences when given room.

AICWA’s demands to the ministry include:

There is already some relief for the film. Kapri announced on Instagram on Wednesday that more than 200 shows would be added from Friday, November 13, thanking audiences for backing what he called a small independent film.

Pyre, directed by the National Award-winning Kapri, follows an elderly couple in a steadily emptying Himalayan village who keep waiting for their son to come home. The film has also been submitted for Oscar consideration.