Six films crowd Dussehra week as Nayyi Navelli edges Prahaar in early sales

Yami Gautam's Nayyi Navelli is ahead of Rajkummar Rao's Prahaar: The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam in advance sales, with both films opening on Friday in a packed Dussehra week. Reports say Nayyi Navelli sold close to 11,000 opening day tickets across PVR Inox and Cinepolis, against 8,500 for Prahaar.

The two Hindi films have plenty of company. Rajinikanth's Jailer 2 reached theatres on Thursday. Friday also brings Ranabaali, starring Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna, along with the Hollywood titles Street Fighter and Whalefall. That makes six releases in one week, with Dussehra on October 20.

Kamal Gianchandani, CEO of PVR Inox Pictures, called the festival week a strong slot for films in every language, not only Hindi. He said Dussehra releases usually get a clear run until Diwali, and a gap of about three weeks is enough for a film to do well. This year the Diwali release is Ramayana Part 1, with Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi, on November 5.

Gianchandani felt Nayyi Navelli "goes well with the festival". He described Prahaar as a high-concept film that could still take off.

Devang Sampat, Managing Director of Cinepolis India, was more cautious. Six films in a week is a lot, he said. Festival crowds grow and these films differ in language and genre, so there is room, but each one gets less time to find viewers. He argued that planning release dates eight weeks ahead across languages gives films a better run and helps cinemas schedule shows.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said he hopes every film finds an audience, and expects screens to get even busier between now and Diwali.