THE FATE OF BIG SCREENS (OTT vs Theatres - Analysis)

Mumbai, Feb 5, 2022: A movie theatre which is otherwise known as a movie hall, picture house, the silver screen is the place where the audience watches movies of their interest. Indian film industry stands itself among one of the top industries in the world, having produced a large number of movies of each genre.

Capital Cinema Hall in Mumbai is the oldest cinema theatre in India established in 1879. Currently, there are around 9000 movie theatres in India which include 6327 single screens 3200 multiple plexes as per stats. Movie halls are the best places where the audiences are accustomed to a marvellous experience which helps them overcome their daily stress, anxiety etc.



The Theatre viewing experience establishes a connection between the viewer and the fantasy movie character. Big screens provide wholesome entertainment that the viewers gets locked in an imaginary world throughout the duration of the movie.

During the '50s, '60s and the 70's decade movie theatres were the only sources to view movies and they enjoyed a non-competitive and dominant run in business.

Movies used to run for over a year during these times as there was no competition from ott, television etC. Due to these reasons movies used to generate very High footfalls back then. Movies used to get reruns during that time and a prime example is Sholay which was successful in its all reruns. But as the times passed theatres began to experience competition from other platforms.



It all started in the 80's decade when piracy came into existence, which eventually lead to people watching movies in VCR doing piracy which affected the silver screens. The footfalls of the movie's started to decline to post this and this was a matter of deep concern for the producers and the theatre owners then.

The movie Maine Pyar Kiya busted this mythical the belief that footfalls can't be rosen back after it generated more than 4 cr footfalls the main reason for which being its extraordinary content.

After Maine Pyar Kiya the industry struggled to even touch 3 Cr footfalls until movies like Hum Aapke Hain Kon, DDLJ and Raja Hindustani arrived. Around this time the popularity for television was also increasing rapidly, as a result of that, the producers began to telecast the movie immediately after the theatrical ended which put full stops on re-run trend.



A larger number of people used to wait till the movie appeared on television as a result of the increase in television demand which further affected the theatre business. The years 2002-2007 witnessed a large increase in multiplex audiences and decline in single Screen audiences reason being the urban friendly content movies which were produced in large amount during this time.

Rural audiences prefered massy actions movies which were limited during this period due to which single screens had a tough time. Due to this trend in more urban-friendly movies they struggled very much to hit 2 cr footfalls. These instances lead to single screens being on the verge of extinction.

The movies like Ghajini (2008), Wanted (2009) and Dabangg (2010) broke this dogma and the single screens were revived once again. This encouraged the makers to make such types of the movie's as the audiences were more into this type of stuff. The business was revived very well but it didn't meet the craze it used to have before the 90's because of competition from the rival platforms.

With the help of content and their mass fan following actors like Salman Khan and Aamir Khan were able to drive mass audiences into the theatres. With its unique storytelling and extraordinary visual experience the movies Bahubali and its sequel Bahubali 2 recreated the magic which the movies of the The '60s and 70's used to do.

At the present times we are living in an era where theatres are facing huge competition from cheap internet, old enemy television and the biggest enemy Over the top television (ott) in the recent years have established itself as a formidable force to be reckoned with.

The surge in covid cases and the lockdown helped them in doing so. Many of the movies which were ready for theatrical the release was forced to release in ott. Movies like Radhe and Laxmii which featured Megastar Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar helped out accelerate its growth.

Many of the theatres are in closing state post-pandemic and theatre owners are facing difficulty in the business The audiences have started shifting themselves to ott platforms more often as it provides quality content at affordable rates within the four walls safety of their homes. The only thing well-wishers of theatres can do right now hopes that situations get better as time passes as the theatre owners are facing huge debts and all the more ott cannot be an alternative for the big screen Visual experience in anyways.

It's a fact that during this tough unfavourable situation and also senseless content worsening the scenario movies will struggle to even hit 1 cr footfalls in the upcoming times. Actors like Salman Khan and Aamir Khan who enjoy a large solid fan base are in their last lap.

Actors like Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh are labelled as new comers despite working in the industry for Over a decade. The industry can save itself only if they produce quality content and also the future of the covid pandemic will also play a major role in this.

The public too should pledge that they'll avoid piracy and try to watch movies in theatres to get the irreplaceable visual spectacle experience which can relieve them of any mental ailments they are facing which are exactly the purpose of cinema and entertainment industry.

Many people who work in the entertainment industry and the theatres are going through very rough patches in their lives and are struggling to meet their livelihoods.

Our audiences can do our bit to contribute towards helping these people, some who are on the verge of suicide due to financial issues by taking an oath to avoid piracy and watch movies at theatres so that these people get their bit.

Stay tuned.