On National Cinema Day (September 23), movie buffs thronged cinema halls, as the tickets were modestly priced at Rs. 75. From Brahmastra being sold out in almost all theatres, to Chup: Revenge Of The Artist and Dhoka Round D Corner, every film benefited. Now, to mark the festive period, film tickets will be priced at ₹100 till September 29.

Rajender Singh Jyala, chief programming officer, INOX Leisure, tells us, “After a positive response to the Rs. 75 plan, we thought of experimenting some more. We wanted to see if lower ticket prices get the same response again or if it was just a one-day phenomenon. If it gets the same kind of response, we can discuss about this (low ticket rates) with the stakeholders.”

Films such as Chup: Revenge Of The Artist managed to rake in the moolah due to the cheap pricing, says director R Balki: “It doesn’t immediately position itself as a mass film. The Rs. 75 pricing opened us up to the fact that so many people want to come to the theatres; it’s only the high ticket prices that keep them away.”

The focus should be on getting more people to the theatres, than just making one ticket expensive, feels exhibitor Akshaye Rathi. “I hope the movie-going business can go back to being more accessible,” he shares.

The festive period is usually accompanied by hiked ticket prices, as big films usually release around this time. So, why reduce the prices? Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says it’s because people are in the mood to spend during this time. “They travel, shop and watch films. When you keep ticket for as low as Rs. 75 and Rs. 100 on weekdays, it’s a great idea.”

What cannot be missed is the fact that the ticket prices have only been reduced until September 29, so two big films that release on September 30 — actors Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan’s Vikram Vedha and filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: I (PS 1) — will not be available for Rs. 100 per ticket. 

Jyala emphasises that producers feel if the budget of a film is high and the ticket prices are low, the recovery won’t happen: “Hence, Vikram Vedha and PS 1 will play at a regular price.”

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“Would you go to watch more films at cinemas if tickets cost less?” – when we asked moviegoers this, almost all of them responded positively. And guess what? Multiplexes are listening and hence it was not just on last Friday (National Cinema Day) when tickets cost only Rs. 75 or this week when all films playing in theatres will cost you only Rs. 100 (offer lasts till Thursday), but cinemas are planning to experiment with an affordable pricing model in the long run.

Following the two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and later due to high ticket prices, when moviegoers registered a record of over 65 lakh consumers in a day on National Cinema Day, it led to discussions on lowering average ticket prices and hence the experimenting phase in cinemas has begun.

Kamal Gianchandani, President, Multiplex Association of India (MAI), says, “There is a lot of experimentation being done by various cinema operators at this point. Disney, Dharma and other studios, who have films playing in theatres, have been very supportive in this regard. We are constantly listening to our customers and other stakeholders of the business. We have always taken ticket pricing and other similar decisions keeping the interest of consumers and all stakeholders in mind. We will continue to do so in the future.”

Rajender Singh Jyala, Chief Programming Officer, INOX Leisure Ltd, says, “This week is an experiment to see if people will come on weekdays at this price. After Thursday once the numbers are in, we will analyze it and decide our next step.”

Does this mean that cinemas will continue to keep lower prices? “Yes, we are experimenting with this. Will it be 112 or 120 or 150 and so on that’s what we will decide. But 75 and 100 are too low to sustain. Big budget films will not be able to recover with this price,” he adds.

Recently, when Mani Ratnam visited cinemas for an event, it was reported that there was a discussion on keeping tickets for Rs. 100 only for his upcoming release Ponniyin Selvan: I. However, Gianchandani has denied this.

He says, “This is not true. There has been no such request from Mani Ratnam. He is fully supportive of all ticket pricing-related initiatives that are being taken by the cinema operators.”

Similarly, there were other reports saying that the makers of another upcoming release Vikram Vedha have suggested the same but Jyala says that there has been no such discussion with the makers of this film.