Mixed news about cinema screens keeps on coming. It is said in some that the number of people watching the film in theaters is decreasing. The increasing popularity of web platforms and piracy can be attributed to this to a large extent.
On the other hand, there are companies which are continuously investing their money in the theaters chain. In new cities, with new screens, he is constantly ready to give people a unique experience of cinema.
Theaters chain company Mirage Entertainment is also determined to take this business further. With his managing director Amit Sharma, we tried to understand deeply the profit and loss of this business.
You had also produced a Madari film earlier, Irrfan has come back fine. What are your plans now?
See, there are two types of producers in Bollywood, active and passive. We fall into the passive category. We believe in the product and invest money. We do not interfere in creative calls. That’s why you got to see a great film like Madari because we believe that the work that the creative can do better, the producer cannot. That’s why we like being in the role of passive producer. Our next film is Bypass Road Under Production with Neil Nitin Mukesh. His brother is its director, the film will be released in theaters by the end of this year.
Amit Sharma with Neil Nitin Mukesh to bring next film Bypass Road
This time the issue was overshadowed in FICCI Frames, that we have 9 thousand screens here whereas in China there are 50 thousand screens. How can we compete with themThe
First, we go to the data of FICCI Frames. There are 9 thousand screens, how much are servable? Bahubali was released in 6 thousand screens across India. Can’t open more than 300 screens in a year. The same are also being closed. Which we are sitting on the number of about 6 thousand only. Now we go to another data that we have less than 3 thousand multiplex screens here.
Hey this is very shocking data
Yes, you are what you call Modern Cinema. In which you like to go to the movies with your family, they are less than 3 thousand. Now you are 3 thousand, compare with fifty thousand of China. We
The country is the largest producer of films in the world. We are the most English-speaking country after America. So we have the scope to show all types of films from regional cinema to English. We are the country with the largest young population, which is a film-watching population. Those who are fond of films the most. All of which is positive for us. What is negative is that our people do not have good options to watch the film.
There are 3 multiplexes all over Bihar. There are 5 multiplexes in Orissa. Where are the good cinema halls in eastern Uttar Pradesh except Gorakhpur, Allahabad? You live in Azamgarh, Sitapur, where do you have good cinema halls?
Single screen theaters are
Will you go to see the film with your family in single screens? No. In such a situation, if you do not like going into a single screen, would you call it a serviceable screen. And if you talk about small cities, then Mathura is. Is Vrindavan. Does the population of these cities not want to go to the movies? But where are the screens we have?
The smartphone has come and now has created this opportunity for everyone that we are all global citizens now.
It was just told at FICCI that Netflix’s Sacred Games were seen more abroad than they were seen in India.
Now you can tell that when you have so much information available on the phone, then why would you like to go to movies in such theaters, then 20 or 30 years old technology is showing you movies.
So what is its solution
We are opening multiplexes in many cities for this. We are going to open 100 more screens in the next 15 months. Our 100 screens are still superbly serviced. Small cities like Chandrapur, Nandurbar, Sitapur, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Bhagalpur are coming soon with cinemas screens. Here we do not compromise with technology. It may be that the ambien is not there like you got in Mumbai or in Delhi, but in technology you will not get any less than anyone.
How much does it cost you to set up a theater thereThe
If we are spending 2.5 crores in Mumbai or metro cities, then it reaches two in small cities. Because technology is exactly the same. Only real state makes a difference.
How do you choose which city you want to open screens in?
This is decided after looking at both macro and micro data. What kind of films play in UP but what the population of the city likes to watch. This is decided by looking at the micro level data.
The most important question I want to ask you is that people think that watching movies in multiplexes is still very expensive.
The simple answer behind this is that we are able to take the cost that you are able to give. Companies which are in this business are listed in the market. Their data is in the public domain. If you see, it is doing business at a margin of 15 to 20 percent. The government helped by reducing GST about us. Entertainment tax is here with us the most. LBT’s sword hangs over us, no one ever talks about it.
We have always given tickets on MRP, no matter how much tax we paid. The capital cost of making the film is the same here and abroad. But if we do not talk about one thing, it is that we have the cheapest tickets to films here. Whereas real state is very expensive from many countries of the world here. In such a situation, we have 3 thousand screens, the world is sitting at 50 to 60 thousand. Then you can see how big a scope we have right now.
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