Multiplexes face crisis, shut down many screens

Several multiplexes face a deserted look since the past one week. While you may have thought that there are not too many films having released, the truth of the matter is that a cost-cutting exercise is underway.

Barring Airlift and Neerja, nothing has clicked this year so far- and this has made most multiplexes cut down on display. A source from Fun Cinemas in Andheri (on request of anonymity) tells SpotboyE, “We have closed 1-2 screens in every outlet of ours, across the country.” Movie Time in Chembur is another case in point.

Adds the source, “Fun Cinemas and Movie Time is just the tip of the iceberg. Haalat bahut kharab hai. Dhanda bilkul nahin hai. We cannot afford to run so many screens unless we get good content.”

Be it Fitoor or Aligarh or for that matter, Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant – not any of the movies has worked at the box-office.

One may argue that there is always a slump during this time of the year, with exams and the IPL matches playing a deterrent. But this year, IPL has not even begun and the multiplexes are feeling the pinch. The footfalls seem to have reached a new low.

This in turn may have affected the number of screens allotted to Kapoor & Sons to a certain extent, but that’s not the story. KJo was satisfied with the number of screens he got, and seems, he is quite happy with the response at the ticket windows too.

Certain sections of the society feel that the answer lies in multiplexes reducing the ticket prices. Says Pahlaj Nihalani, Censor Board Chairperson, “Yes, I am aware about the current plight of the multiplexes. It is a sad state of affairs. I think if they reduce the ticket cost, they might go home smiling every day.”

However, our source from Fun Cinema disagrees with Nihalani. “We have reduced the prices considerably over the last three months, but we continue to spiral downwards. There is absolutely no content in 90 per cent of the films which are made these days.”

Trade analyst Amod Mehra says, “I don’t think that the cost of a ticket is the problem. Today, you don’t get even a frankie for less than Rs 100. People go to cinemas to see stories. Where are the stories?”

The source states matter-of-factly, “We’ll open our doors once again if there’s a larger slate of films which justifies the cost of running the shows and the overheads.”

Thumbnail Image Source: complaintreport