With filmmakers slashing ticket rates to woo audiences to theatres, experts share whether this is a temporary measure or a permanent trend for the future

Sheetal

With each passing week, more and more filmmakers are slashing the price of the tickets for their films. What was started by Multiplex Association of India (MAI) as an initiative to observe National Cinema Day on September 23 this year, has now become a marketing and promotion gimmick for Friday releases. We ask experts whether this is a temporary fix or a permanent trend.

Signs of change

As many as 6.5 million people visited theatres on National Cinema Day, when the ticket price was fixed at Rs 75 for the day. Thrilled by the audience response, Ayan Mukerji was the first director to fix Rs100 as the price for his film, Brahmastra: Part One, for four days (September 26-29) during Navaratri, which helped the film garner Rs 256.39-cr net collections in India.

The price of Vikas Bahl-directed Goodbye was also reduced to Rs 150 on the opening day, October 7, but the Big B film could only make Rs 93 lakh for the day. Ashish Saksena, COO, Cinemas, BookMyShow, shares, “For Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva alone, BookMyShow had received a remarkable response from audiences in the third week of the film’s run and that, as the data suggests, aided a growth of over 40 per cent in tickets booked online on the allotted special discount days. A similar trend was observed for Goodbye, which saw a marked growth in tickets booked on BookMyShow on a single day — October 11, 2022, to celebrate legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan’s 80th birthday. This stellar response was garnered from audiences across metros, tier-2 markets and beyond, further contributing to the success of the current line-up of films at the box office.”

On October 2, actor Ajay Devgn did a promotional activity for his ambitious project Drishyam 2, which will be out on November 18. On that day, tickets were available at a 50 per cent discount on advance booking.

Budgeting Fridays

The tickets of Parineeti Chopra and Harrdy Sandhu-starrer Code Name: Tiranga, released on October 14, were available at Rs 100 on the opening day. Director Ribhu Dasgupta, who had previously made The Girl on the Train’s Indian remake, announced the price change along with lead pair through a video on Thursday. But even the price cut couldn’t save the film, as its first-day collection ranged between Rs 10-15 lakh only. On the other hand, Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Doctor G, also released on October 14, managed to garner Rs 3.25 crore without a slash in ticket prices. As far as tricity was concerned, Code Name: Tiranga didn’t get a level playing field given the number of shows were far less than Doctor G.

Celebrating the magic of cinema, and considering the massive buzz around the title, the makers of Last Film Show (Chhello Show) also released the film on Friday at Rs 95 per ticket. In keeping with its selection for the 95th Academy Awards, the film was released across 95 cinema halls.

Good response

Nation-wide initiatives from studios, including reduced ticket price for select films and special discount days, such as the one announced by the MAI, have naturally seen a good response. — Ashish Saksena, COO, Cinemas, BookMyShow

Temporary measure

The audience is not being fair about judging movies without even seeing them. Slashing ticket prices will at least bring people to cinema halls. But I think it’s definitely a temporary measure, which can help revive the industry. — Akash Choudhary, actor

Content is king

Slash in ticket prices will not help filmmakers. The audience has become intelligent and cannot be fooled with average content. If the content is right, the film will do business. — Vijay K Saini, director

OTT is cheaper

Cinema is hit badly by the evolution of OTT platforms during the pandemic. Now people think twice before spending in cinema halls. — Mandeep Chaahal, director