Last week, cinema halls in Maharashtra, India, were finally reopened after closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bollywood is back.
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Even as multiplexes in India return shakily to life, there are other movie theatres in the region that, sadly, will never open their doors again: single-screen cinemas.
In the 1960s and 1970s, they were the sole home of new movie releases in India. Avid cinema-goers would form serpentine queues as they waited to buy their tickets from a hole-in-the-wall ticket booth. Tickets were priced at a cheery Rs10 (50 Fils) at most cinemas, and many theatres could accommodate up to 1,000 people. Come showtime, excited movie buffs would find their seats and escape into epic Bollywood productions, often punctuating memorable songs and dialogues with applause, cheers and hoots. Going to the cinema was an experience, and it created a sense of community and camaraderie, along with a growing love for Bollywood’s “heroes” and musical scores.
But with the arrival of multiplexes in the 1980s and 1990s, many people began to gravitate to their modern luxuries and amenities. Ticket prices shot up – today, they cost roughly Rs250 per person (Dh12.25). Single-screen cinemas struggled to provide a similar experience.
According to online reports, from roughly 9,700 single-screen cinemas in India in 2009, the numbers decreased to 6,300 in 2019, with many local theatres closing due to financial problems or owner disinterest. The advent of high-quality video streaming compels people to stay home on the weekends and watch movies on their TVs instead, causing a further blow to local cinemas.
High taxation is also a problem for cinema owners. According to a 2018 report by the Producers Guild of India, cinema owners were taxed at a rate of more than 100 per cent in some states.
And then came the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shutting down of single-screen cinemas during pandemic-related lockdowns could be the last straw for the remaining few establishments. Already, according to an August 2021 report in US-based Fortune magazine, COVID-19 has erased 80 per cent of Indian cinema revenue. Time will show its inevitable impact on single-screen cinemas, and how many of them have closed their doors forever.
Are beloved single-screen cinemas destined to be relics of the past? Play today’s Crossword and tell us what you think at games@gulfnews.com.
