The curtains went up across cinema screens in Tamil Nadu on Friday after a four-day strike but occupancy levels dipped by nearly 40% in multiplexes and more than 60% elsewhere. Theatre owners cited two reasons for the dip in footfalls: the hike in the ticket prices and the late evening announcement that theatres had opened.
“We will know the exact impact next week. Also, no big movies were released this week,” said Abirami Ramanathan, president of the Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owners Federation.
The State has 1,127 screens with some 6.14 lakh seats. The occupancy level is typically 70-80% during weekdays and 100% on weekends.
Hopes for weekend
Udeep B., managing director of Mayajaal, said, “The overall booking momentum has been a little soft today with no major Tamil films releasing. We did not see any major resistance to the new pricing at the box-office counter.” He added that occupancy levels will increase over the weekend. “With the release of the 3D English film Spider-Man , a small budget Hindi film and a couple of regional films, the footfalls will go up,” said Mr. Udeep.
The owner of a small single screen in Chennai said that his occupancy was less than 40%. “It will be tough managing the operational cost for a few weeks,” he said.
More than five theatre owners with whom The Hindu spoke to said the dip in occupancy levels clearly hinted that the end-consumer was yet to digest the pricing levels.
Pradeep Kumar, a techie who had come to watch a film at Sathyam Cinemas, Royapettah, on Friday evening, said, “Tickets in Tamil Nadu are still cheaper when compared to Bengaluru and other metros.”
Neighbouring States, including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka charge ₹150-300 for movie tickets. If one goes further up north to Delhi and Mumbai, the prices range from ₹100-750 depending on the theatre.
S. Anand, a college student, said that many consumers are still confused about the ticket pricing. “When the ticket price was ₹120, it included the entertainment tax which was 30%. So should GST be added after the removal of the previous tax? Why is it above ₹120 when the State has a price cap?” he asked. Those who booked tickets online were also upset that they had to spend an additional ₹30 (online booking charges) for a ₹153.6 ticket.
Movie-goers across the State said the T.N. government should come out with a notification on what exactly the ticket prices are and the rationale behind adding GST to the ₹120,₹100 and ₹10 tickets. Tamil Nadu has a ₹120 cap on tickets, a rule that was brought in by DMK chief M. Karunanidhi.
Price hike criticised
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday criticised theatre owners for increasing ticket prices. In a statement, he said while the theatres owners’ demand seeking the removal of local body tax over and above GST was the right one, their decision on hiking ticket prices when talks were on with the government was not acceptable.
