Box office recovery flop after pandemic in small towns

 

The owner of a two-screen cinema hall in Muzaffarnagar said Hindi filmmakers have stopped making films for families in small towns.

• Many single-screen owners say that distributors are refusing to supply films to them, which has hurt their business

New Delhi: The post-pandemic box-office recovery has not been as strong in India's smaller cities as it has been in big cities, despite hits like Brahmastra, RRR and Gangubai Kathiawadi. Trade experts and theater owners say these films, said to manage significant revenue, benefit from higher ticket prices at multiplexes, failing to find audiences in tier-two and tier-three cities. On the other hand, with the failure of Bollywood's most recent star vehicles, Vikram Vedha and Doctor Ji, small town commercials are deprived of mass market fares. In fact, many single-screen owners say that distributors are either refusing to supply films to them, furthering their business or playing multiple titles at once by demanding maximum shows for their own film. eliminating the possibility.

Film producer, trade and exhibition specialist Girish Johar said, "It would be fair to say that films in Tier-II and Tier-III cities are yet to play, and the recent titles have not been welcomed." There was initially some traction for the superhero flick Brahmastra due to the scale of production and visual effects, but trade experts like Johar say it fell short.

Meanwhile, the other recent star Vaahan Vikram Vedha starring Hrithik Roshan and the urban thriller, Saif Ali Khan, was also targeted at the multiplex audience and struggled to cross the ₹70 crore mark despite big names.

To be sure, the potential of cinemas in smaller cities is often overlooked. For mass-market commercial films, small towns can contribute more than 70% of the total collection.

Pranav Garg, managing director of Maya Palace, a two-screen theater in Muzaffarnagar, said Hindi filmmakers have stopped making films for families in small towns. “We are constantly getting queries for films that people can bring their families for, and we have little to offer them. Also, everything is available on OTT at nominal rates within a few weeks of theatrical release, when the prices of films like Brahmastra, which also had a 3D version, were not less than ₹200," Garg said recently. Dubbed Indian films, most were disappointed with the Hindi version of Mani Ratnam's historical drama Ponniyin Selvan-1, which earned only ₹22 crore in the northern belt at the end of September. Garg said a film like Brahmastra also benefited from this traction. Urban multiplexes, and unlike Bahubali, another film with fantasy elements, had no emotional connection to audiences in small towns.

Hollywood isn't even bringing in enough returns; Garg, who saw his enthusiasm for the superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder, waned after the first few days, missing out on recent American titles like Bullet Train and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, anticipating a negligible draw.