The low admission rates today (September 23) in over 4,000 cinemas across the country to celebrate the National Cinema Day is an eye-opener. People are thronging cinema halls to watch not just the new films which opened today but also films which have been running since one/two/three weeks. The sudden jump in footfalls in multiplexes and single-screen cinemas, which are partaking in the National Cinema Day celebrations to thank the public for returning to cinemas after the Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and to welcome those who have still not made cinema-going the habit it used to be before March 2020, proves that cinema-going is a price-sensitive exercise.
If the content on offer is loved by the paying public, they don’t mind watching it at even high admission rates. The problem arises when content is sub-standard. Let’s face it, the content of theatrical films has been weak, of late. To still expect the public to frequent cinemas, that too at “prohibitively high” ticket rates is foolhardiness. For attracting the audiences to the cinemas to watch fare which is not the best, one had to lower the admission rates. The National Cinema Day’s box-office results are only proving this point.
Film Information has always advocated the cause of differential ticket pricing. It has maintained that the public would hesitate in paying the same ticket price for a B-lister’s film or a new star cast film as for an A-lister’s. But somehow, Information’s pleas to the industry to work on ticket pricing has fallen on deaf ears. Whether it is about star cast or quality of content, the principle is the same. Lowering ticket prices is bound to increase footfalls for all kinds of films — star cast and non-star cast, with good content and with poor content, with A-list actors and with others.
U.P. exhibitor Ashutosh Agarwal told Information, “The National Cinema Day may have been planned as a token of appreciation for the audiences who have returned to the cinemas but it should open the trade’s eyes for all times to come. I feel, every film’s tickets should be sold at concessional rates after the first two weeks. This will ensure that those people who avoid frequenting cinemas because of the high ticket prices will feel inclined to visit cinemas when ticket prices come down.” Leading C.I. distributor Harish Janiani remarked, “The industry needs to learn a lesson from the jump in footfalls today. We need to rethink our ticket pricing policy.”
Shows of Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva in several cinemas have recorded full houses today even though it is the first day of the third week. For houses to be full on the 15th day of a film is almost a Utopian thought. If that has turned into a reality, thanks to a cut in admission rates, let’s not shy away from the truth — that the trade needs to address the issue of ticket pricing on a macro level and for all times to come. We can’t be celebrating the National Cinema Day for a day and overlooking the larger issue — that of getting the crowds back to the cinemas in full force, and for all times — which it has brought out from under the carpet. No doubt, the novelty factor of carpet bombing with low admission rates has worked, and this may not continue forever. But if we don’t take proactive steps by learning from the lessons taught by the concessional pricing, the cinema-going habit may also not continue for long.
Wake up, industry leaders, before it is too late!
