MUMBAI: Bollywood is possibly going through its darkest financial period in its over century-old existence. The producer-multiplex row is hurting stakeholders across the board.
Single-screen theatres and multiplexes have cut down on shows to reduce their operational losses. In the past five weeks there have been no new releases in Hindi with just a few in English. Going by the fact that Hindi films draw a large amount of moviegoers than those for English films, footfalls have dropped considerably, as a result of which cinema halls have been facing severe drop in their income.
Single-screen cinema halls in central Mumbai like Premiere and Chitra have seen a drop in revenue of between 60 to 75 per cent. “Though there are no new Hindi releases, Marathi films like Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy have kept us afloat,” said Premiere Theatre manager Prem Kamat. “Our business has come down by 75 per cent, I do not want to shut shop as it will go against our ethics.”
Single-screen theatre Plaza that also shows Marathi films has managed to sustain its business to 50 per cent because it is alternating three films between four shows, one screening regularly in the matinee show. etc have been showing Bhojpuri films. “Bhojpuri-speaking cinegoers mainly women along with their children throng our cinemas in the afternoon and the evening shows more so because of the summer vacation in schools,” says Kalpana theatre manager Liaqat Khan.
According to trade analyst N.P. Yadav almost all of the 85 single-screen theatres including the ones in Thane and close to 30 multiplexes have been forced to cancel between five to 25 shows per week. A few Marathi films like Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy and a few others have saved theatres located in areas where Marathi filmgoers exist.
Avers executive director Manoj Desai of Maratha Mandir and G-7 theatres like Gaiety, Galaxy, Glamour, Gossip and Gemini, “Our business has gone down by as much as 80 per cent. This situation is graver than the one we saw in 1989, when we were on a month-long strike.” Though Desai has kept his theatres open, he has been forced to cancel 50 shows across the six theatres under his control.
Leave a Reply