Moviegoers are back

Moviegoers have been reluctant to return to cinema halls. So the story titled “PVR-INOX makes big BO return with blockbuster” (Business Standard, August 31) was a welcome change. The big success of Gadar 2, followed by the even bigger success of Jawan (released on September 7), is probably a sign that moviegoers are back in large numbers.

The long drought of Bollywood hits has evoked many reactions including those that said the over-the-top platforms have swallowed the multiplex audience. The criticism also centred on the inability of film producers to understand the changing tastes of moviegoers. There is a widely held belief that South Indian filmmakers seem to understand the pulse of the audience a lot better. There may be some logic in that argument, but there has been a bigger factor at play.

Hollywood is facing its own set of problems and The New York Times (July 16, 2023) had a story titled “In Hollywood, the strikes are just part of a greater economic problem”. The article said that ticket sales in the US and Canada were down 21 per cent compared to the same period in 2019. People were not willing to go back to movie halls even in the US and Canada. This is despite the fact that Hollywood, over the last decade, has managed to create and nurture a very loyal following for certain genres of movies and calling them “Universe”. Even the ostensibly sure-fire Indiana Jones franchise movie did not evoke the enthusiasm that it was supposed to. August has been a good month and we will come to that in a moment.

What was ailing moviegoers around the world? What will make them come back?

If we take India, South Indian movies were off the block early. Why did that happen? Was it because the filmmakers there are more clued-up on the tastes of their viewers or something else?

When I started my career in advertising in the late 1970s, I was also entrusted with the task of doing media plans for my clients. In those days cinema advertising was an important part of any media plan. What fascinated me then was the dramatically larger number of movie halls in states like Tamil Nadu (TN) and Andhra Pradesh (AP). In comparison, states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan had a very low number of movie halls relative to their population. The media studies also showed that while almost 30 per cent of adults in TN and AP visited a movie hall every month, the number for UP was less than 10 per cent. As I sit on the board of a company involved in the digitisation of cinema halls, I am fascinated to see that the situation has not changed much even in the 2020s. Per capita availability of movie halls (and seats) in South India is way above the per capita screens in the north even now. This is despite the fact that multiplexes are coming up rapidly in Tier-II towns across India. What has this done to movie viewing?

For the South Indian consumer, going to a movie hall is something that is hardwired in his/her brain. (Little wonder M Night Shyamalan has observed that movies are “sacred”). He/she remembers visiting movie halls as a kid with family. And this habit continues as one grows up to become an earning member of the family. During the pandemic, there was a fear about going to movie halls. Remember halls and theaters were probably the last spaces to open up. There was a palpable fear that has kept moviegoers away not just in India, but around the world. PwC has even predicted (NYT, July 16, 2023) that global ticket sales will reach 7.2 billion by 2027. Incidentally, total attendance was 7.9 billion in 2019 (I am sure PwC experts are recalculating these numbers now).

The first set of consumers to throng movie halls were in TN and AP/Telangana. It is possible South Indian filmmakers knew that they had to break the inertia and hence offered films that appealed to both multiplex and single-screen audiences. These films even worked in other parts of India.

From the news around Gadar 2 and Jawan it appears moviegoers in other parts of India are finally over their inertia and willing to go to the halls.

It is also interesting to note that with the success of Oppenheimer and Barbie, even the US and Canada movie audiences are back in big numbers prompting Bloomberg to say: “In the emerging post-pandemic era, most aspects of life have returned to normal. Moviegoers are flocking to cinemas, vacationers jammed airports for summer travel and kids are returning to classrooms. The one thing that has remained stubbornly fraught: the world of work.” In a curious twist of fate the two biggest Hollywood hits of the year were not part of any long running themes or “universes”.

Moviegoers are back. But this does not guarantee all films will be hits. Filmmakers will have to invest in understanding the changing tastes of moviegoers, in multiplexes and single screens, in order to improve their chances of success.

Ambi Parameswaran is an independent brand coach and founder, Brand-Building.com. He can be reached at ambimgp@brand-building.com