Another distributor in Nepal will even help make illegal VCD's and profit from both the film and the pirate copies. A producer will report the collections of only the cinemas where the film is doing well, even if it is nine out of 21. A trade magazine editor will slant copy to focus on healthy collections because the producer has taken out a two-page colour ad that week. The truth is that in Bollywood, it is impossible to get accurate figures. There are too many middle-men, too much cash business and too much creative accounting.
Trade magazines have regional representatives and try to get independent assessments.
But even the best pundits in the business are only making educated guesses. The business is out there. We just don't know about it. The Rajshiris talked those figures because they controlled the distribution themselves. Nobody could dupe them.