India's cinema struggle: Falling screens and capital crisis demand gumption

The movie business in India is caught in a vicious cycle of falling screen count and, consequently, fewer films and no capital. Breaking out of it will require gumption

There are so many happy movie business stories, you just have to look for them. Take Sitaare Zameen Par. Aamir Khan Productions decided not to do any OTT deal until the film, which released on June 20, had its full theatrical run. The shorter the window between a film’s theatrical release and its appearance on OTT, the less likely it is that audiences will walk into the theatre to see a small film like this one, which is about the story, not about the star  — a la Pushpa 2 or Pathaan. Since he has been critical of the two-