There is new incentive for Haryana to get out and see some cinema. After a private screening in Chandigarh, the state has put a tax-free label on Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was at it, touting the film as something you should be inspired by and making his case for people to go see it.
Why Haryana moved fast
Saini put a spin on it: this isn’t just another policy, but a way of nudging the public to do their part. “I have said before that we should all be watching films like this that get to us,” he put it. “We are making it ‘tax-free’ here because it does that – it makes you feel your duty.” He was in Chandigarh for the film and came away with the idea that it ought to be seen by the lot of them. Hence the announcement: if it stirs a sense of responsibility in our citizens, it will be tax-free in Haryana. You can count on an endorsement from the top of the state to be word-of-mouth with a bit of an edge. The pitch in the hall was about the message first and foremost, and it struck a chord. Now the government is on hand to let that feeling percolate.
What it means for viewers and buzz beyond Haryana
When a film is tax-free, you can expect to see better prices and more bodies in the seats, particularly from families. Haryana’s move is only adding to the headway the film is already making in other parts of the country. It doesn’t stop there. Over in the national capital, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta has also put her stamp on the film’s tax-free status, announced at a screening of her own. Kangana has been putting in the miles with screenings in various cities, and she has a group of early adopters who are happy to do some of the marketing for her. You could say the whole plan is to put the film in front of you and get you talking about it.
Kangana reacts and the film’s core
Ranaut is on board with the decision. She put out a note of thanks to the Haryana government for opening up the film to a wider net in the state. In the same breath, she had some good words for the CM’s efforts on women's empowerment and how that has opened doors for her team. The film is, in the end, about the nurses who held their ground during the 26/11 attacks. That has put it in the good graces of some in the public eye. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was among those to laud the way the movie puts the bravery at Mumbai’s Cama Hospital on display.
Then there is the acting. Some of the early reviews are fixated on Ranaut. One has it that the camera is content to let her show you the fear and the grief, with a particular scene of her coming apart being hard to look away from.
Who made it and who is in it
Manoj Tapadia is the writer and director behind the scenes. On the production side, you have a list of names including co-producers Kangana Ranaut, Shailesh R Singh, Dhaval Gada, Babita Ashiwal and Adi Sharma. Ranaut is not alone in front of the lens; she has Rasika Aghase, Aditya Mishra, Priya Berde, Zahid Khan, Suhita Thatte and Asha Shelar to share the screen with. They are there to back a story that is more about making an impression than a show of force.
If the endorsements are any indication, the people behind the film have a handle on both the message and the moment. With the state in their corner, they have the room to put the film in front of the kind of audience that might otherwise have been on the fence.
The official word, at a glance
Here is where things stand with the makers and the men in charge: – Haryana has put the film in the tax-free camp – Delhi has done the same – The Chief Minister has called it a must-see for the motivation it offers – Kangana is of the mind that it makes for easier access
With two of the Hindi belt’s capitals in agreement on the exemptions, the road to a bigger audience is less bumpy. For anyone with an interest in a tale of service, this is as good a reason as any to put down for a ticket.
The thing to watch is where the momentum goes from here. With more screenings and more voices in the mix, what was a civic gesture has become a box office wind. The theatres in Haryana will be the proof of it.
