'Kites' fails to fly even on satellite TV; to hit Idiot Box this month

The disastrous fate of ‘Kites’ just doesn’t seem to end. The film that has been doing a poor business at the Box Office has now run into trouble over satellite rights issue. Buzz has it that Big Pictures, which had negotiated a stupendous deal for the satellite rights of ‘Kites’ and the yet to be released ‘Raavan’ with a channel, received a shocker when the channel in question demanded that the deal be renegotiated.

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: The disastrous fate of ‘Kites’ just doesn’t seem to end. The film that has been doing a poor business at the Box Office has now run into trouble over satellite rights issue. Buzz has it that Big Pictures, which had negotiated a stupendous deal for the satellite rights of ‘Kites’ and the yet to be released ‘Raavan’ with a leading channel, received a shocker when the channel in question demanded that the deal be renegotiated for a much lower price. And it’s all after seeing the Hrithik Roshan starrer flick’s sad run at the BO. Confirming the news, a source told a daily, “The channel had acquired the rights of both the films (‘Kites’ and ‘Raavan’) for Rs 54 crore. The rights are for seven years. The deal was sealed even before ‘Kites’ had released, when the buzz about the film seemed to promise a blockbuster. But the disappointing collections at the box office and the tepid viewer response not only shocked the film industry and trade in general, it also diluted the worth of the satellite rights of the film.” “The channel apparently renegotiated the deal. It is now worth Rs 40 crore —a clear loss of Rs 14 crore to Big Pictures. Big Pictures even sweetened the revised terms by throwing in a few more films,” adds the source. However even at a cut-down price, the channel has apprehensions whether it will be able to recover its investment. “The channel plans to release Kites on television this month itself, though it’s a barely a month since it hit the theatres. On top of that, the channel plans to re-telecast the film a little later before it’s out of the news completely,” said a source.