Keeping movie ticket prices reasonable is the need of the hour, urge experts

It seems everyone has been barking up the wrong tree so far. Various reasons were given for why Bollywood films were flopping at the Box Office faster than you could say... well ‘Bollywood’. On the occasion of National Cinema Day on September 24, 2022, movie halls slashed the ticket prices to Rs 75. Lo and behold, as per media reports, this attracted over 6.5 million movie goers to the theatres.

Bollywood has not been having a gala time since the Covid struck the world and disrupted every aspect of our lives. It changed long set habits, and one of them was how we consumed content. Our mobiles, television sets and laptops/ PCs became our go-to screens, and even as the world opened up, we refused to give up our personal screens. While movie theatres beckoned us with new releases of A-list stars, lip-smacking snacks and the assurance of heavily sanitised environment, we rarely took the bait.

The year 2022, expected to be a bumper year for Bollywood, has instead been a horror show, with film after film registering embarrassingly low scores at the Box office. Everything – from nepotism to something some star said years ago, to hashtag boycott culture to poor storylines to film critics panning the film, to South cinema muscling they way into Hindi heartland – was shown as the cause for why Hindi films were failing.

But the same cinegoers, who have so far stayed away from the movie theatres, had no qualms coming in droves to the cinema halls as ticket prices were slashed to just Rs 75, instead of the usual Rs 250-odd price.

So, was the ticket price the problem all along? Looking at the response, producers of the recently released Brahmastra have decided to keep the ticket price for the movie at Rs 100 for four more days. The film saw a 240% leap in its box office collections all due to the National Cinema Day.

It’s time for the movie industry as well as the multiplex and cinema hall owners to rationalise ticket prices. The price of admission shouldn’t be so prohibitive that it begins to put a dent in one’s business. It’s time for a reality check, movie industry.

Industry speak

Karan Taurani:

“I think this is a very good move. Because after a very long time cinema chains have run to a huge Full House response. And this just goes to show how reduction in ticket prices increases your footfalls in a very big way. Today, one of the biggest problems that the industry faces is a strong footfall growth. In fact, last quarter when KGF and RRR came in the industry, which was recovered only to 85% to 90% of three core levels show, I think keeping the ticket prices reasonable is a very big lever to drive footfalls. Cinema as we all know, is a high operating leverage business, so driving footfalls lead to higher F&B, which, in turn, leads to higher ad revenue and also improves the profitability of the business. So, I think it’s the need of the hour to keep ticket prices reasonable and not kind of inflated unnecessarily.

In fact, the industry has been talking about of introducing differential ticket prices for a long time. The small medium budget rooms should be priced separately versus large budget films.”

Anupama Chopra:

“I think it’s a wonderful idea, which the theatres should do once a month to remind everyone how magical the big screen is! We need to cultivate the habit again and this is the perfect way to coax people to leave their homes!”

Vashu Bhagnani:

“I have been speaking about lowering ticket prices at cinema halls and  multiplexes since the early 2000’s.  I had even reached out to multiplexes to give us one screen at their theatres where we can operate as a JUNTA screen, wherein the ticket prices will be much lower to attract cinema lovers from colleges , newly employed youth and all class of life. The F&B will be provided at much lower costs, so attracting audiences for a world class viewing experiences without burning a hole in their pocket. Lower ticket prices is the need of the hour and imperative to give the much needed impetus to theatres currently as well as the film industry."

Sanjay Chhabria:

"It is a welcome move. This exercise was an eye opener for all. All this while we were complaining that we've lost audiences to OTT, that theory has been proved wrong. Affordable Ticket & F&B pricing has brought in record footfalls all across. Case in point , our film 'Boyz 3' (released on Friday 16th Sept) recorded higher collections on 23rd in the second week with lesser cinemas / lesser shows than its opening day i.e 16th.  This is a huge learning for everyone & going forward i'm confident we'll see some price corrections / increased footfalls ! Happy days can be here again!!"

Additional inputs by Vinita Sharma