Cinemahalls : Reeling A Reincarnation ?

 

 

Cinemahalls : Reeling A Reincarnation ?

 

Against its previous rivals (TV, VHS, Cable TV et al), cinemahalls could flex their muscle through technological innovations. But as they reopen, they face a unique rival.

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When the first Indian film Raja Harishchandra  (1913) was screened, the cinemahall had remained silent.  During 1910s, Cinemahalls would face tough competition from theatre – which then had  voice . With talkie films, Cinemahalls surpassed theatre,  as writers could write stories for cinema that could not have been narrated in theatres.

 

 

During 1940s to 1970s, Cinemahalls in India, saw a rapid growth. When during 50s & 60s, cinemahalls in US faced competition from television, it was countered through technological innovation called  widescreen formats (cinemascope etc.). Widescreen formats were very cumbersome to watch on TV. In India, cinemahalls saw their first downfall during 80s. While the commonly believed reason for this downfall was the arrival of colour television and spread of television after the 1982 Asian games, the real reason was much deeper. This reason also had caused a structural change in the cinema going audience.

 

During 70s and 80s, various state governments started levying high level of entertainment tax. As a result, distributors and exhibitors started resorting to tax evasion. The high taxes also provided high incentive for video piracy. The outcome was fall in ticket sales but more than that it was also about poor reporting and lack of transparency in box office collections. When collections were largely through the parallel economy, the film financing also resorted to the same. The film producers now saw the dominance of underworld in film finance. The preference of these financiers was for the popular cinema (action films, masala films et al). Meaningful cinema saw a decline. Little work remained for writers.  Interestingly, story of southern cinema was different. Due to low taxes, box office collections remained high and so quality and meaningful cinema still flourished there.

 

 

The big change that the tax structure brought to cinemahalls (Hindi cinema) was the audience mix. During 40s-70s and also partly in 80s, cinema going was largely a family, a group or a community affair. With high ticket prices and low quality films, the family audience shrinked and made way for couples as the core audience. As a result, the cinemahall business too started shrinking, so much so that when in 90s satellite TV and cable TV arrived, it was predicted that cinemahall business would soon die down. 

 

But fortunately, during 90s cinemahalls reinveted themselves. Firstly through four and six track sound systems and then through the multiplex format. These innovations brought a new and a continued growth as Indian audience got more sophisticated and wanted richer entertainment experience. Thus, again technology helped cinemahalls flex muscle against its rival - home entertainment.

 

The latter half of 2000s and early 2010 saw the multiplex movement towards small towns.  Box Office collections saw another round of growth. Multiplex companies were now listed on bourses and were trading at high P/E multiples. Cinema business was at its peak

 

And while this party was on, a silent revolution started streaming in. By adding “at your time” feature, OTT platform offered a completely new kind of competition. Earlier, cinemahalls could compete against TV/Cable TV/Satellite Channels through technological innovations in formats and in cinematic experience but the “at your time” feature of OTT came like an out-of-syllabus question. The pandemic only made things worse. OTT became part of everyone’s daily life and cinema viewing started appearing an extremely expensive affair - even though cinemahalls remain the cheapest mode of out-of-home entertainment.

 

But again the deeper challenge from OTT is not about  “at your time”, it is about the viewing company. When the audience had moved from family and community  during 1940-1980s to couple viewing in 90s and beyond, cinemahall still remained a purpose for spending time in a company that one enjoyed. Today that purpose has gone. OTT has made consumption of entertainment a singles affair. Now when partners have different viewing preferences, how many viewers would find value in sacrificing their personal OTT time and yet spend more money just to see a film that their partner wants to see ?  And this is the big question that cinemahalls will have to answer. 

 

As the cinemahalls begin a new innings, the immediate box office numbers could be mediocre or even outstanding. But over medium to long term, cinemahalls will have to find new ways to fight against OTT. And in this fight, will the cinemahall owners be supported by the other stakeholders in the game –Mall Owners, Retailers, Real Estate developers OR will they have to go back to cinema’s good old friend -  the writer…..And ask them to write stories that are better enjoyed in the company of others. 

 

Cinemahalls …Reeling under pressure or Reeling a Reincarnation ? Only time will tell.

 

 

-       Deepesh Salgia