Film directors Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar recently discussed how expensive it is to see a movie at a theater. Karan stated that a family of four must spend Rs 10,000 on a single movie outing and this expense might not be part of that family’s economic planning. The filmmaker brought up the issue of “crazy” food prices at movie theaters.
During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Zoya shared, “People can’t afford to go to the cinema.They want to go to the cinema. If you’re going to go twice, you’re going to choose which films you want to see. Even if I want to go see Laapataa Ladies, maybe I can’t afford to.” Karan discussed his observations after reading a poll and said, “They went to 100 homes, and out of those 100 homes, 90 said they would watch only two films a year (in theatres).”
Karan added that this income group constitutes a significant portion of the audience base. They cannot afford the expenses associated with watching a film. They may consider going out during Diwali or if they learn about a film such as ‘Stree 2’. Family members have expressed their reluctance to visit cinema halls, as they feel uncomfortable denying their children requests for popcorn or other snacks. Consequently, they prefer dining at restaurants, where they incur costs solely for food rather than for tickets.
Karan concluded by saying that the audience shared that our child will point and say they want caramel popcorn, but we can’t afford it.’ Because the average cost for a family of four can be Rs 10,000. And maybe those Rs 10,000 are not in their economic planning at all.
In 2023, seats for Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan were selling for as high as Rs 2,400 on the ticket aggregator website BookMyShow, while tickets for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer were marketed for Rs 2,450.
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