With as many as eleven films hitting the theaters last Friday and  Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, D-Day, Ramaiya Vastavaiya and Ship of Theseus continuing their run in the cinemas, at present, there are effectively 16 films trying to get screen space and pull in audience. If this was not enough, things are just about to get worse. With 9 more films releasing this Friday, adding it would make it 25 films running in theaters to capture the Indian Film audience. An unheard of figure in recent times.

The new releases in line this weekend are Rabba Main Kya Karoon, B.A Pass, Calapor, Chor Chor Super Chor, Love in Bombay(1973), Prague and Bhadaas, American supernatural  horror flick The Conjuring and the dubbed version of Kannada hit, Bachchan while the films released on July 26 include five Hindi (Bajatey Raho, Issaq, Luv U Soniyo, Nasha and Main Hoon Surya Singham II), two Marathi , three Tamil, one Punjabi and one English (The Wolverine).

The multiplex officials are tickling their grey cells to the last limits just be able  to allot slots to the films and Grirsh Wankhade, GM, Marketing, PVR and Cinemax, said, “We don’t give preferential treatment to any film. It is not the first time so many films are releasing together. We will try to give one or two shows to each. Films like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, The Wolverine and the Marathi film Duniyadari will continue to enjoy a good run.”

Well, there is a reason why producers headed into such a scenario despite being aware of the clashes.  Anand Vishal, Head of Operations and Sales of Fun Cinemas, explained, “August is flooded with big releases like Chennai Express, Satyagraha, Madras Cafe and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara. It is more wise to release these films before the biggies clash at the box office.”

Girish Johar, a leading distributor said, “Today’s audience is very smart. With so many options available, they will pick what excites them the most.” According to an industry insider, the only notable film among the upcoming films is Rabba Main Kya Karoon, which stars Arshad Warsi. Director of the film, Amrit Sagar, whose 2007 film 1971 won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, said: ” These days you can hardly expect a solo run. We have faith in our film.”

With the biggies releasing next week, it’ll be interesting to know who stood tall, who held grounds and who slipped away.