Dhananjay Galani of Dhananjay Galani Production that is into Films production, Distribution and Promotion is extremely optimistic about the return of audiences to cinema halls once the pandemic fears are over. “Though the frenzy of audience thronging the theatres on the opening weekend might be a tad lower compared to pre-lockdown era, I am very certain that the cinema halls will never shut down as there will always be a desire for watching films mounted on huge canvas only on the big screen with stereophonic sound effects,” says Dhananjay Gala.
“We are also the associate producer and worldwide distributor of The Battle of Bhima Koregaon. Producer Ramesh Thete has not left any stone unturned to film this great epic starring Arjun Rampal and Digangana Suryavanshi playong pivotal characters with Abhimanyu Singh, Govind Namdev, Ashok Samarth, Krushna Abhishek and Miling Gunaji among others in this socio-war film,” he adds.
Dhananjay Galani has distributed over 100 Bollywood and Hollywood films spanning a period of almost one decade. He has a cinema hall – Bhatwal Theater in Dhule, Maharashtra and therefore he has the pulse of the cinema going audience.
This lean built man with boyish looks began his career in Bollywood industry as a distributor of films in 2013 and one of his greatest success was in the production, promotion and distribution of the film Bole India Jai Bhim. This film received an award at the Dalit film festival in New York.
Dhananjay Galani speaks to PARESH B. MEHTA, Editor of FilmyTown.
What made you venture into production of short films?
One of my recent successful release is the comedy short film Bhasadbaaz that stars Sheeba Chaddha, Vineet Kumar, Anil Charanjeet and Mukesh S Bhatt. The film explores the role that media plays in present times and is an humorous take on the status divide centering around Ballia in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. A satire showcasing the life of a woman in the small town and a take on how our standards are different for different people across different status and how our people have conveniently adopted this anomaly.
You wanted to announce something about your new interest in Digital Business. Please go ahead.
We are entering into the Digital Medium with the launch of our OTT App – Cherry Flix around the first week of July. Hopefully the noted director Anees Bazmee will be launching our app. It will be a SVOD (Subscription based Video on Demand) model that will be reasonably priced. Initially the app will offer Original content of 10 features comprising shorts, feature films and web series across horror, action and romantic genres.
Can you be more specific about the mix of content that will be available on your OTT platform?
Cherry Flix will screen the drama-action film that directed by Shabina Khan’s brother Rahil Khan and also included is Sheeba Chaddha and Vineet Kumar’s comedy short film Bhasadbaaz. Ukrainian actress Natalia Kozhenova stars in our horror film Evil Dead is Back that will be released in Hindi and English versions. Natalia is now a known face among Indian viewers with her impressive performances in Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge, Anjunaa Beach and Gandii Baat season 4 among other commercial films. For the first time in her career she is playing a double role in this Tariq Bhatt directorial venture.
Another feature film that will be launched in the Cherry Flix app is Yeh Talab that will be a talked about film as it is centered around the couple’s life where the rich husband is busy in his commercial world which makes him neglect his wife whose life tends to go on the the wrong footing.
What is the strategy adopted for the promotions and release of epic film The Battle of Bhima Koregaon?
Apart from regular Commercial Distribution networks we will be connecting our Target Audience through Social networks, particularly those people who care for justice and equality.
A never attempted before is our three pronged strategy – Facilitate Bulk Bookings from corporates and institutions, arrange pre-booking facilities for individuals and finally, issue special passes to the Privileged VIPs and even the those Change-Makers of our society at the grassroots level.
With the audience now having adapted to enjoying their entertainment on their mobiles and laptops in the comfort of home and their own spare time, what is the future of films being released theatrically?
Agreed that the people have now developed a fancy for watching films on digital platforms, but for how long will they be satisfied watching films on their palms? Once the pandemic is over and when things turn normal our audiences will surely come to the cinema halls to enjoy their films on a wide screen with Dolby sound effect. Would our people totally stop going to restaurants and malls even after normalcy comes back? They have now got used to ordering food online and get delivery of their needs in clothes and apparels. But once everything is normal, they would want to venture out for fine dine and visit the malls. Likewise I am confident that footfalls in cinema halls and multi-plexes would also come to pre-pandemic levels. There is no doubt about it.
