New releases are shockingly poor, Independence Day Resurgence opens well

All the new Hindi releases this week were shockingly poor. Raman Raghav 2.0 and Junooniyat have started at less than 5% occupancy for the morning shows – with reports coming in that lots of shows have been cancelled in the morning due to ‘zero’ audience.

The three other releases – Shorgull, 7 Hours To Go, A Scandall – were complete washouts.

Meanwhile, ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ has opened well. The morning shows were around the 30% mark and some shows in the noon were running at 40-45% occupancy.

When a massive Hollywood film like ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ made on a budget of $165 million (Rs 1,120 crore) is released for the same ticket price as films like Raman Raghav 2.0 – which is also targeted at the multiplex audience – from an audience point-of-view, it isn’t a very difficult decision to make.

The problem, quite clearly, is the ticket price.

If smaller Hindi films need to sustain and do well, there needs to be a change in the way tickets are priced. But the high entertainment taxes, especially in major circuits for film business, has also become a major concern.

Film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi summed it up very well “2 years in a row – Big ticket Hollywood films have dominated the Hindi releases at large. Hindi film makers need to up their game & make a paradigm shift in production scale & project design to safeguard themselves for the future”

“Hollywood has decimated the regional (in the global context) cinema of a lot of countries. Thankfully, China & India still stand strong! Before we hit drastically low footfall levels, steps need to be taken by the production, distribution & exhibition sectors, working in sync!”

“A huge issue with the industry is the lack of a single association that represents ALL! Half a dozen out there, which only fight each other!”

“Infact, the uneven tax structure even within the sector hurts films! Average of 40% on cinema tickets. Almost NOTHING on the same films on TV!” Rathi said in a series of tweets.

A lot of people, including some in the trade, are dismissing the threat of Hollywood films – but with each passing week, the threat is only getting bigger. Even smaller Hollywood films are now taking bigger initials than low to medium budget Hindi films. Even critically acclaimed films are not working at the box office.

If this trend continues, a time could soon come when exhibitors will no longer be dependent on Hindi films to sustain their business. If that coincides with the decline in stardom of some of our major superstars, who have been the pillars of the industry for more than 2 decades, the Hindi film industry could struggle for its very existence.