Theatres, multiplexes restrict shows due to poor business
Theatres, multiplexes restrict shows due to poor business
News comes to the fore that theatres and multiplexea are to restrict shows due to poor business.
According to estimates of trade analysts, multiplexes having five to six auditoriums are restricting shows to two or three, even as some single-screen theatres are temporarily shutting operations, due to poor business and large expenses associated with running them.
The debacle of the already released big-budget movies ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ and ‘Maidaan’ have forced multiplexes and single-screen theatres to cut down on the number of shows or shut some screens temporarily.
Manoj Desai, producer and executive director of Mumbai-based G7 multiplex and the iconic Maratha Mandir movie hall says, shows are being cancelled.
It is not just about the general elections, the heat wave or competition from streaming platforms. Filmmakers are making bad films. And viewers are not interested in them.
He furthe added that earlier, when Hindi films did not work, there was a supply of South Indian films dubbed in Hindi which provided some business to theatres. But this time they do not even have southern films dubbed in Hindi.”
Ttrade analysts reveal that ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ has been made on a budget of ₹350 crore. It collected ₹48.50 crore in the past three weeks. ‘Maidaan’, which had a budget of ₹250 crore, collected ₹40 crore in the same period.
“Single-screen theatres and multiplexes are grappling with very little collections. There are theatres which have meagre footfalls of 170-250 people,” said independent film distributor and trade analyst Shaaminder Malik.
In Agra, Bareilly, Kanpur and Lucknow single-screen theatres
have reduced their ticket prices to a low range of ₹30-70. Even then, there is no improvement in footfalls.”
Apart from reducing ticket prices and providing fixed ticket coupons for a certain number of films, to lure audiences to multiplexes, exhibitors are also running advertisement-free shows (this saves at least 30 minutes for the audience) at premium properties.
As per Malik today, word-of-mouth communication among viewers and potential viewers of films is more effective than ever. One cannot dump bad films and expect people to come to theatres, especially at a time when they have more interesting avenues to entertain themselves.”
According to a senior management executive at a leading multiplex said: “Rentals and CAM charges have increased post the pandemic.
This has added to costs of running a screen. We used to pay an average 15% of the revenue generated per screen before the pandemic to theatre-owners. This average increased to 20%. So, poor performance of Hindi films is just a key trigger for temporarily shutting screens.
News Edit K.V.Raman
