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Amit Sharma – Managing Director, Miraj Cinemas, Devang Sampat – Managing Director (India), Cinepolis and Vishek Chauhan – CEO, Roopbani Cinema came together and raised some valid points in the third episode of The Filmy Hustle, hosted by distributor-exhibitor Akshaye Rathi. They talked about how we need universally acclaimed films to get more people and how expansion is the need of the hour.
Rs. 8 lakhs to Rs. 1 CRORE – How Akola’s theatres BOOMED with one BOLD move – top exhibitors spill trade secrets!
Vishek Chauhan said, “It’s no rocket science. You have to make that content (that appeals to people). The USA has a population of 34 crore people. They sell about a billion film tickets. That’s like 3 times their population. India has a population of 140 crores and yet, we struggle to sell 100 crore tickets. In terms of population, one screen per 1.5 lakh people is ideal in India. Hence, you can imagine the potential to grow is huge. Rs. 12,000 crore is the total theatrical business in India. This number can easily go to 2x or 3x if you get the right content.”
Devang Sampat added, “We are blessed to have producers who are making 1700 titles in a year. That’s huge. Across 450 screens of Cinepolis, we released about 1200 titles last year. In a given week, we juggle with the movie programming of almost 60 movies! That’s a blessing. Even though we are so close to the action, we still don’t know which one will work well.”
He gave the instance of Tumbbad, “At times, we might release a 2018 film, and it becomes a blockbuster! In 2024, 10 lakh people saw re-releases. A movie like Laila Majnu went house full for 3 continuous weeks. Hence, it’s not like OTT is impacting (cinema business). Jinhe jaana hai, woh jaa rahe hai. Many who make noise on social media are the ones who don’t even venture to a movie hall. Of course, we need to target them and understand how to entice them to come to theatres. But I believe that it’s a joint responsibility between a producer and exhibitor.”
He continued, “Out of 1200 films, 65% of collections came from just 25 films. Those 25 films matter the most. But we would not know which those 25 films are in the beginning.”
Vishek Chauhan discussed, “In the 70s, the parallel cinema movement emerged. But these films used to occupy 10% of the pie. 90% of the films were Amitabh Bachchan and Salim-Javed type commercial films. This cinema also gave us great films and great actors. Between 2009 and 2019, that ratio was reversed in Bollywood. Very few universal films started coming, mostly on festivals. Most of the content became niche.”
The lack of universal films has had an effect on the exhibition sector. Vishek revealed, “In my area (he operates a cinema in Purnea, Bihar), there were close to 100 cinemas. Today, we are down to 8. That’s how alarming the situation is. It’s not that people don’t watch cinema. But to run a cinema in a viable manner in those parts of the country, you need that Jawan and Gadar 2 type of content.”
Devang Sampat added to this point, “Vishek spoke about 90 plus single screens which are shut in Bihar. What’s happening to those properties? There’s no alternative to that land parcel. If we make multi-screens, it’ll work. The government needs to come up with exhibition-friendly policies.”
Amit Sharma exulted, “We need to open a greater number of cinemas in places where there is a dearth of it.” He gave an interesting example, “We have opened theatres in Akola, Amaravati and Chandrapur. Akola only had a few single-screen cinemas. The biggest of films used to collect just Rs. 5-7 lakhs or at the most, Rs. 8 lakhs in that centre. This is because the families and those with spending power had reservations about going to unhygienic cinemas. As soon as we converted a single screen into a multiplex and began operations, you won’t believe but we have had three films, each of which has done a business of Rs. 90 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore!”
Akshaye Rathi, who operates theatres in that region, added, “All the single screens in Akola noticed the swanky new property which came up in the city. They figured that if they didn’t upgrade, they would slip into oblivion. Hence, that jump from Rs. 9 lakhs to Rs. 90 lakhs happened because the entire ecosystem changed. Hence, it’s not like multiplexes kill single screens. Both have to grow together.”
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