There are two ways to enjoy a star-driven Bollywood blockbuster in this city-watch it at a polite, upmarket multiplex where catcalls are frowned upon, or travel to a theatre in a less plush neighbourhood where fans unabashedly scream, hoot, whistle, dance in the aisles and vocally celebrate their celluloid demi-gods. Look no further than this dichotomy to appreciate the multi-cultural, multi-lingual, economically diverse National Capital Region.
Consider this. Even in the first week of August, the mass-appealing Singham—a July release—gave a reasonable 40 per cent occupancy rate to Shiela cinema near Paharganj, that attracts people whose budgets are compatible with its low-priced tickets. In August Week 2, however, occupancy fell to 20 per cent with the Hindi dubbed version of the new Hollywood release Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The following fortnight, the theatre showcased the new release Aarakshan—the film’s serious subject and poorly received treatment yielded a mere 22 per cent occupancy in its opening week which dipped to 6 per cent in the next week.
This is not pop sociology, this is serious business. Programming departments in all theatre chains pick their films based on the socio-economic background of their regular clientele. Anant Verma, business head of DT Cinemas, explains his figures for August: “Murder 2 did well at our Shalimar Bagh multiplex (in moneyed North Delhi with its blend of audiences), DT Star Mall and City Centre (both in Gurgaon). Its collections were comparatively not so good in Saket, Vasant Kunj (rich south Delhi locations that tend to attract educated viewers) and Mega Mall (in an up-scale Gurgaon neighbourhood). Pricing is a big factor. Star Mall because of its location (in the village of Silokhera) and pricing (average ticket: Rs 145) will always get the masses, and Murder 2 was that kind of film.”
Incidentally, August’s new arrivals failed to rock the box-office across Delhi NCR. The big money came from the continuing success of July releases Singham, Delhi Belly, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Smurfs. Like other theatres, the PVR chain too chose the halls at which to screen Harry Potter and its dubbed Hindi version depending on the locality’s language preferences. And so in the first week of August, a fortnight after its release, Harry Potter aur Maut ke Tohfey 2 enjoyed a 63 per cent occupancy in PVR Naraina and 57 per cent in PVR EDM bordering Ghaziabad while Harry Potter in English earned a 50 per cent-plus occupancy rate in both its Saket multiplexes. Clearly their market analysis was spot-on.
This box-office report on Delhi and its suburbs appears on the first weekend of every month.
The writer is on Twitter as @annavetticad