Being Human: Salman Khan to pay Rs 55 cr to distributors to cover Tubelight's losses

Film poster of Tubelight

Tubelight may have faltered at the box office but Salman Khan is making sure that nobody has to bear the brunt of the losses.

The actor has come to the rescue of distributors who were in despair after the film was unable to make enough money to cover the cost at which the distribution rights were sold.

He will refund as much as Rs 55 crore to distributors.

Tubelight earned Rs 25 crore on its opening day, falling far behind Sultan. The 2016 release had raked in Rs 36.59 crore on day one. The slow-pace of the film kept movie-goers away from theatres and negative reviews affected ticket sales.

Even distributors of the film were not happy with Tubelight’s performance and called the box office figures of the film as ‘disappointing’.

"The film saw a disappointing opening. We expected it to open at Rs 30 crore but it has opened very low as compared to any Salman Khan film. People have not liked the content much...so it's not doing well," film distributor Rajesh Thadani had said.

While the makers of the film were safe from the losses due to the profit-sharing agreement, exhibitors faced a tough time.

Dejected with Tubelight’s performance, film trade analyst Komal Nahta had tweeted that single-screens which ran Tubelight are in huge losses. “In Ferozabad (U.P.), two cinemas, Sant & Bharat, lost entire price of Rs 9.11 lakh. Maya cinema of Hathras (U.P.) claims he lost all that he earned in Bahubali 2 & Dangal in Tubelight alone, which he booked for Rs 4.11 lakh,” he said.

The budget of Khan’s new release ran up to Rs 100 crore and the film got back its production cost when NH Studioz bought the distribution rights of the film at Rs 132 crore.

Also, for music rights, Sony Music paid Rs 3 crore. But, the burden of the film’s slow performance shifted on the shoulders of distributors and exhibitors mainly due to the high distribution cost.

According to a Box Office India report, Tubelight grossed Rs 12 crore net approximately in week two and took its two week collection to Rs 114.50 crore. Although the film has not entered the flop club, Tubelight’s weak performance took a toll on the distributors.

Nahata had tweeted, “Distributors of Tubelight in tears. Some have come to Bombay (sic) to plead with Salman to refund them money.”

Tubelight dropped week on week by 88 percent. And, after the strong performance of newly released Mom there may not be much to come in the third week as the film goes down to 1-2 screenings at most multiplexes. It will probably be a Rs 116 crore net finish for Tubelight, the report said.