The latest big-ticket film Kalki may have earned over ₹277 crore from its Hindi version at last count, but has held up mostly in top metros with the overall business falling by 25% after the opening weekend, driven by a dip in tier-two and three markets
Lata Jha
Published25 Jul 2024, 08:46 PM IST
The latest big-ticket film Kalki has earned over ₹277 crore from its Hindi version at last count.(X)
India's small towns, particularly in the Hindi-speaking belt that have single-screen cinemas have yet to experience the box office success seen last year with hits like Pathaan, Jawan, Gadar 2, and Animal.
The latest big-ticket film Kalki may have earned over ₹260 crore from its Hindi version at last count, but has held up mostly in top metros with the overall business falling by 25% after the opening weekend, driven by a dip in tier-two and three markets.
Other hits such as Munjya ( ₹107.01 crore) and 12th Fail ( ₹56.75 crore) and Bad Newz (Rs. 38.17 crore), also benefited largely from big cities.
Trade experts say it is common for films to target specific audience segments and it also makes commercial sense if the segment is large and meaningful enough to bring box office returns via high ticket pricing. However, this has meant little respite for small-town, single screen cinemas that are yet to see business flourish this year at all.
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“For a lot of these big-ticket films, top multiplexes can bring 75% of the business, leaving no reason to cater to the lower segment of audiences,” Pranav Garg, managing director at Maya Palace, a two-screen cinema in Muzaffarnagar, said. The trick for single screen cinemas to lure clientele even for large-budget films like Kalki is to continually invest in upgrading and renovating the theatre and investing in formats like 3D, Garg said. However, most of them are arm-twisted into giving up higher chunks of the box office revenue to distributors, with unfavourable terms often forced upon them, leaving them with no funds to meet even daily expenses.
Better business for spectacle films like Kalki in bigger towns may also be attributed to the wide prevalence of premium format cinemas such as IMAX, ICE and 3D in these markets.