Bollywood's Faltering Story

With few Bollywood movies making an impact at the cash registers in the last few quarters, the Hindi content factory looks seriously ill compared to movies from the South

- Prerna Lidhoo & Vidya S.

THE STORY OF India's waning single-screen theatres is a dramatic one. What were once architectural heritage establishments-housing close to a thousand cinephiles at a time, who'd often show their admiration by throwing coins at the screen-have now become invisible, rusty structures; almost an eyesore in a cityscape dotted with swanky malls and glitzy multiplexes. Today, at a time when around 150 single-screen theatres are shutting down every year, the Hindi film industry, popularly known as Bollywood, seems to be in the middle of an identity crisis.

As per a recent Ficci-EY report on India's media and entertainment (M&E) sector, the decline in the revenues of single-screen theatres has been fuelled by their continued shutdown, primarily in the Hindi heartland, while films continue to be made for the upper-class/ multiplex audiences. This trend has ended up isolating a large chunk of the cinema-hall audience, who are used to paying ₹50-70 to watch a film in the theatres, experts say. At a multiplex, this cost is three to four times more. The high ticket pricing at multiplexes allows Bollywood movies to earn profits in multiples, thus reducing their dependence on the hinterland audience.

Nearly 40-45 percent of the lifetime box office collections of hit Bollywood films used to come from non-multiplex zones in India, according to various industry estimates. With single-screens dying and Bollywood's south Indian counterparts cornering the cash through dubbed versions, Hindi film producers have no other option than to rethink their content and distribution strategy.