Makers of Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son Of Sardar, who were engrossed in media warfare to set bells ringing at the box-office, were found helpless last weekend. Though both the films got bumper openings on Diwali, they incurred huge amount of losses this last weekend which could have raised their box-office scorings. The reason for such a huge loss was sudden demise of Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray.

Reportedly, theatres in Mumbai and other towns in Maharashtra - Pune, Nasik, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara, Nagpur, Amravati, Akola and Jalgaon cancelled movie shows not only on the day when Bal Thackery passed away but since the news of his critical condition spread across the state. Many distributors and trade experts estimated a loss of Rs 16-17cr approximately.

A leading distributor Devendra Shah said, “I think Rs 12 crore is an understatement. The two films must have easily suffered to the tune of Rs 16-18 crore.” As far as exhibitors are concerned, Girish Wankhede of Cinemax India was more forthcoming. "We had to cancel eight shows in 66 screens in Maharashtra. We expected occupancy of 55-60 per cent over the weekend, hence I would say that we lost out on a collection of nearly Rs 2 crore, which if we share 50 per cent with the distributor, implies we registered a dip of Rs 1 crore,” he said.