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OPINION: National Cinema Day's success proves why reshaping movie ticket price policy is need of the hour
The success of National Cinema Day yet again says loud and clear that stakeholders need to re-evaluate movie ticket prices for a price-sensitive market like India.
National Cinema Day 2024 emerged as a success story, like every year, as the feature films registered massive footfalls. While the Hindi movies sold around 14 lakh tickets between them on the big day, the other movies contributed another 16 lakh tickets, making it a day wherein around 30 lakh moviegoers went to theatres and enjoyed their choice of film(s) on the big screen.
Stree 2, Yudhra, and Tumbbad scored the most on National Cinema Day when the ticket prices were slashed to the affordable rates of Rs 99 nationwide in standard formats. Hollywood movies like Transformers One and regional movies like Bibi Rajni, Ardaas 3, Navra Maza Navsacha 2, The GOAT, and others also saw a good turnout and ensured a total footfall of 30 lakh across the nation.
What Does The Success Of National Cinema Day Mean?
The success of National Cinema Day is a testament to the fact that India is a price-sensitive market. The audience is ready to flock to the theatres and even subject themselves to experiments by watching small-budget movies with no star face if the stakeholders apply an affordable price strategy. I'm not saying that every movie should be priced at Rs 99 only, but there should be a subsidized range that the middle-class audience can afford. It could be between Rs 120 to Rs 180 per ticket in multiplex chains for the new releases.
In cases wherein the industry is releasing big tentpole movies starring A-listers like Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, then it becomes a valid point for the makers to come up with a blockbuster pricing of more than Rs 200 and can even exceed it to Rs 250 per ticket given the demand of the movie.
Why would a person pay the same price for a big magnum opus and a small-budget genre-specific movie, with no A-list star? Filmmakers, distributors and exhibitors should evaluate the potential of their films and then set their ticket prices accordingly.
Affordable Rates Will Drive The Industry In The Long Run
If one believes that lowering the price will impact their overall box office number negatively, let me remind you that an affordable price strategy can turn out to be a real game-changer in the long run. It will attract more footfall at the box office. In addition, it can help in spreading word of mouth widely and rapidly which will ensure a healthy total by the end of the theatrical run.
10 years ago, 3 crore footfalls were making Rs 300 crore at the box office and now after adjusting for inflation, the same Rs 300 crore club has become a Rs 500 crore club as one needs to sell around 2.5 crore to 3 crore tickets. This clearly gives the idea of how ticket prices have skyrocketed over the years!
Less Price, More Footfalls: Targeting Middle-Class Audience Should Be The Goal
With the affordable price strategy, the stakeholders can really target the mass centers and enjoy huge numbers of people thronging to the cinema halls. There must be a major section of auto drivers, daily wage workers, and the lower middle class who have not stepped into the theatres to watch movies for the last decade, and the reason is the heavy ticket prices.
Apart from ticket fare, multiplex chains should also deduct prices of food and beverages. In case, there's no room for such a possibility, they can introduce new food items in an affordable price range for the middle class audience. This strategy is the need of the hour which will help the movie industry in the long run.
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