Nowadays, several actors, directors and producers are complaining that the regular movie-watching audience doesn’t go to the theatres anymore. They blame the coming of OTT platforms for this. There is a lot of truth attached to the argument. Thanks to OTT platforms, film enthusiasts get to watch movies from all across the globe in various languages. The world of films has opened up for us, and for an affordable rate.
Imagine the amount one would spend to watch a film at a multiplex. Besides tickets, one would have to pay for back-and-forth travel, snacks like popcorn or chips and drinks like water or Coke. Now, we all know that even a bottle of water is sold at a ridiculous rate inside multiplexes. So the entire amount one ends up spending to have a nice movie-watching experience is equivalent to a yearly subscription to an OTT platform.
So what is the more practical option – to have one nice movie-watching experience at a price or to have innumerable nice movie-watching experiences, but at home, at the same price?
I think you would choose the latter.
Now, one can of course argue that a person need not buy snacks and drinks inside the multiplex. But it is very natural for the audience to get thirsty or hungry during a 2-and-a-half-hour movie, isn’t it? And what if you have kids or your parents accompanying you? Would you deny them snacks and drinks if they ask for them?
A massive debate broke out on Twitter after a guy named Tridip Mandal shared a picture of a bill he was handed at PVR in Noida after purchasing popcorn and cold drinks. It cost him Rs 820 + ticket prices, which is almost equivalent to an Amazon Prime Video annual subscription.
“Rs 460 for 55gm of cheese popcorn, Rs 360 for 600ml of Pepsi. Total Rs 820 at PVR Cinemas Noida. That’s almost equal to annual subscription of @PrimeVideoIN. No wonder people don’t go to cinemas anymore. Movie watching with family has just become unaffordable,” he tweeted.
Rs 460 for 55gm of cheese popcorn, Rs 360 for 600ml of Pepsi. Total Rs 820 at @_PVRCinemas Noida.
That’s almost equal to annual subscription of @PrimeVideoIN.
No wonder people don’t go to cinemas anymore. Movie watching with family has just become unaffordable. pic.twitter.com/vSwyYlKEsK
— Tridip K Mandal (@tridipkmandal) July 1, 2023
Several people online seconded his opinion and said that watching films on OTT platforms has become the cheaper and more viable option. And hence, the theatres are seeing a decline in customers. Have a look:
Took my parents out for a movie in Guwahati. Spent almost one year of Hotstar Premium Subscription price on Food. pic.twitter.com/mm0OkwePMW
— Amlan (@iamamlan) July 3, 2023
They’ve increased rates like hell. It has become unrealistic to say the least.
— Rahul M Maheswari 🇮🇳 (@rahulsofficial) July 2, 2023
I just noticed that I had exactly the same thing yesterday but as a combo it cost us a bit cheaper at six hundred something. But exactly the same order. This was at Chandigarh. Still expensive though.
— Sachin B (@sachinbee) July 2, 2023
Totally! Went to PVR yesterday itself. A regular popcorn and Pepsi combo was 600 something. This is the smallest combo available.
— Sachin B (@sachinbee) July 2, 2023
There are some people who want big cinema experience but I totally agree that in one movie budget one can really subscribe to primevideo or Jio Cinema
— Yashendra Singh Gaur (यशेन्द्र सिंह गौर) 🇮🇳 (@yashendraji) July 2, 2023
They see us as bundle of 💵
– you are not allowed to bring your own food n snacks
– you are not allowed to reenter if you leave
– they force 20-30 minutes of ads on you, that too after paying upward of 250 per seat
– they buy out or make single screens go out of business
– they…— Deep Kamal Singh (@dks__) July 2, 2023
At Cinepolis we pay 830 for 1 large masala coldrink, 1 large coldrink & 1 one cheese popcorn tub…almost equivalent to price of 3 tickets…This is how ridiculous it is!
— A.T 🇮🇳 (@AdhuriAafat) July 2, 2023
That’s why I keep all OTT subscriptions active. Going Cinema is not that costly, but munching would be 500% costly for sure.
Most of the movies are available on OTT in 1 or 2 months. You can watch it anytime. Skip a boring scene or song.— Shadab Mozaffar (@ShadabMozaffar) July 2, 2023
Around 2014–15, I used to watch one movie every week in a proper Cinema because I loved the experience.
Sometimes when there were two major releases I used to watch both movies in a single weekend.
Now, going to the Cinema twice in a year seems like extravagance to me.— Anirudh Chandrashekhar (@anirudhcshekhar) July 2, 2023
What are your views on this issue?