Jhund, The Batman three-hour runtime likely to create problems for cinema exhibitors: Report

The two releases this Friday The Batman and Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund are both almost 3 hours in length. This creates huge practical problems for cinema exhibitors, as they would have to reduce the number of shows by nearly half. Personnel from a leading multiplex who doesn’t want to be named says, “It is a good thing for theatrical business that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi is doing so well. However, the length of the film is 2 hours 32 minutes. So we already have a lengthy film from last week joining two even lengthier films this Friday. Both Bachchan Saab’s Jhund and The Batman are just 2-3 minutes less than 3 hours long. This means we will have to reduce our shows drastically. This is a luxury we call ill-afford at a time when we are just recovering from the crippling Covid blows.” While Jhund and The Batman are just short of 3 hours length, SS Rajamouli’s RRR which is the next big release crosses the playing time of 3 hours by a few minutes. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He’s been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.