BENGALURU: The Hindi film Brahmastra has been released in 8,000 screens worldwide, the highest ever for an Indian film. The makers of the film hope to bring audiences back to theatres en masse. With a handful of hits since 2020, Hindi cinema is struggling. Superstar vehicles are vanishing from public memory like India - Sri Lanka ODI tournaments. While Telugu and Kannada films are raking in the moolah, theatres running Hindi films resemble graveyards.
With its urban stories and existential questions, Bollywood has lost its connection with audiences. What was once the Hindi film industry is now the South Bombay industry. The pandemic years will also go down in history as watershed years that completely changed the tastes of audiences. We began watching Korean, Japanese, and European cinema with subtitles. Why go to a theatre when you can pause the screen, fast forward a boring scene, order food without sacrificing your kidneys, and go to bed immediately after the movie? Platforms like YouTube allow you to watch things that interest you. I spent hours watching an American man feed his bearded dragon, and a Korean lady who spends two hours eating massive meals.
So, how do we bring people back to the screens? I have an unpopular opinion on the topic. We need to go back to single- screen days. Two decades ago, going to a movie was a cinematic experience, not a shopping carnival. You didn’t have to go to a mall, eat diabetes- inducing food, shop for clothes and toys, and then watch a movie. I recently watched a movie where in the interval, I was sold bike insurance and a pledge for eye-donation (which didn’t seem like such a bad idea after watching the terrible movie!).
With exotic names like Liberty, Odeon, and Gaiety, singlescreen theatres required you to turn up early and procure the tickets physically. If you were lucky, a family member could join the ‘Ladies line’ and expedite the process, or else you stood craning your neck over the shoulders of strangers. Entire families would turn up to watch a hit film. And if it was a flop, young couples would hanker for a ‘sideseat’ to get some privacy. Teachers from nearby schools would often conduct a raid on the theatres. They would flash a torch under the seats to look for anybody in a half-pant, and so students knew that they had to fold their legs on the chairs. Unlike today’s audiences, people were more expressive. Good dialogues were accompanied by whistles, and bad scenes were mocked openly by aspiring stand-up comedians. The audiences sang the songs out, and danced when the hero was introduced on screen.
If theatres are to survive, they must make movie-watching a community experience again. Give whistles to people, and papers to throw into the air during a great scene. Allow people to dance in the aisles. Take a leaf out of Indian Railways’ book – if couch seats are unbooked, upgrade regular viewers to give them a better experience. And bring back black-ticketing, in a legal-organised manner. When a film is housefull, allot bouncers to auction off the last 10 tickets in a theatre.
But how do theatres earn money then, you ask? Who says theatres can only earn money is by selling overpriced popcorn and coffee. Go old school – chai, filter coffee, samosas and egg-puffs. Or serve idli-vada in the interval – a tastier, cheaper, healthier option. A single biriyani isn’t too bad an idea either. And for the love of god, hire writers, pay them better, and make better movies. There’s nothing else that will draw people back to theatres. (The writer’s views are his own)