Director Sandeep Kewlani Denies Block Booking Claims On 'Sky Force'
The concept of block bookings has created a major impact in the film industry, with audiences losing credibility over the box office numbers of blockbuster films like Game Changer, Sky Force, and Chhaava, among others.
Recently, trade analyst Komal Nahta accused the makers of the Akshay Kumar starrer Sky Force of resorting to block bookings to manipulate the box office collection. He also raised these allegations against Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna’s Chhaava. Notably, both these films were produced under the banner of Maddock Films.
Block booking basically means that makers are buying the tickets for their own film in order to show bigger numbers to the audience, which may then influence them to buy tickets as well.
And now, Sky Force director Sandeep Kewlani has denied the allegations raised against the film’s collection and calls for an end to collection reportage.
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On denying the allegations, the director said that the reported collections of Chhaava and Sky Force were organic and assured that no block bookings were made. Citing the social media reactions, he pointed to the audience’s love for the film as the reason behind the success.
Moreover, he also stated that rather than the film’s collection, the impact created by the film among the audience is more important. He said, “Our work is over once the film is made and has reached the public. How much a film is earning is not something you will remember in the long term. If your favorite film is Munna Bhai and I ask you about its box office collection, you won’t know today. In the long run, the film’s collection doesn’t matter.”
The director also felt that the collection was irrelevant to a film and believes that a film’s collection shouldn’t be told to the public. He said, “Collection is only a 15-day or one-month game and then everyone forgets about it. There shouldn’t be a system for collection.”
He further questioned, “Why are we telling people how much a film has earned? Are we saying that if a film did more business, only then it is good?”
He further said, “Let the audience decide if they want to see the movie or not. This is a very different practice that trade experts started. But if it’s a good film, you will watch it anyway. If a film earns ₹300 crore and you don’t like it, you won’t change your opinion just because of how much it earned… The audience knows what they want to watch. The audience doesn’t care about the collection.”
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As per Sacnilk reports, Sky Force has earned Rs 86.5 crore in its week; but, the production house Maddock Films claimed that the film earned Rs 92.90 crore within 3 days of the release. This varied difference between both the reports created confusion among the audience and raised questions over the credibility of the reports.
Sky Force is centered around India’s first airstrike, the Sargodha airbase attack of Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani air war of 1965. Officially announced in 2023, shooting for it was wrapped up in 2024 before its release in 2025. It is co-directed by Abhishek Anil Kapur and Sandeep Kewlani. The film marks Veer’s debut in Bollywood. Produced by Maddock Films, it also stars Sara Ali Khan and Nimrat Kaur.
