After announcing that they’d offer movie tickets for just Rs. 75 on National Cinema Day on September 23, cinemas across the country witnessed a huge spike in advance bookings. So, if you are planning to visit the cinema today, be sure to cross-check whether tickets are still available!

While the average ticket price is in the range of Rs. 200-300, today several cinemas are offering tickets at Rs. 75 for all mainstream options. Cinemas are also offering discounted prices for luxury formats. For example, tickets for gold class seats, which are usually priced at Rs. 800-1,200, will be available for Rs. 400 today in some cinemas.

Exhibitor and industry expert Raj Bansal also pointed out that it seems like National Cinema Day may help some recent releases set new collection records. Yogesh Raizada, corporate head, Wave Cinemas says, “Across cinemas, we are experiencing the highest number of bookings since not just the last two years of the pandemic, but even before that. It seems like the National Cinema Day has brought the houseful board from the ’60s and ’70s back to cinemas. While we were expecting people to be back in cinemas on National Cinema Day, we hadn’t expected this surge in advance bookings.”

Raj Bansal says, “What we are witnessing on the National Cinema Day is the magic of low ticket prices. It proves that the audience is still very much interested in watching films on the big screen. The houseful board is back this Friday because tickets are affordable.”

He adds, “At Raj Mandir in Jaipur, shows of recent releases are totally sold out. Other cinemas too say that they have received a massive number of advance bookings. By Wednesday night, cinemas in North India had sold approximately 8 lakh tickets in advance bookings, and the number may go up to 13 lakh on Friday.”

Girish Johar, producer and business analyst says, “In north, west, central and east India, the response has been quite positive. Audiences will be back to the theatres in huge numbers on the National Cinema Day and it will certainly provide the fraternity food for thought on lowering ticket prices on other days too.”

Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Limited says, “We have received an overwhelming response to the announcement of National Cinema Day. Almost all shows booked through the PVR mobile app have been sold out across the country a day before the designated day. As expected, this day will be etched in the memory of cinephiles. This clearly proves that cinema is the leading outof-home entertainment destination in India and the big screen experience continues to attract all segments of audiences”.

Devang Sampat, CEO, Cinepolis India, adds, “The advance booking numbers are very encouraging. In fact, on Friday, we will see our highest occupancy day –at almost 100% – in the history of Cinepolis in India.”

Kamal Gianchandani, President, Multiplex Association of India (MAI) told us, “Almost 50% inventory of all participating cinemas were sold out in advance as pre-sales.”

“A record number of moviegoers are expected to visit cinemas on Friday to celebrate the National Cinema Day. The response to the pre-sales has been unprecedented and September 23 is on course to become the highest-attended day of the year for cinemas across the country,” MAI said in a statement.