Bollywood is currently facing a crisis more severe than the pandemic. Amid this, the iconic 1000-seat Galaxy of Mumbai's G7 multiplex, also known as Gaiety-Galaxy in Bandra, has been closed from April 19.
High-budget films, including 'Maidaan' and 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan', which were released for Eid, have turned out to be major disappointments.
The film industry is already feeling the effects of Bollywood's no-show. Galaxy was showing 'Maidaan', starring Ajay Devgn, until Thursday. However, due to its failure to attract a large audience, it was moved to Gemini's smaller auditorium on Friday, which has 238 seats and only hosts two shows per day.
According to sources, more cinemas may close for a month, and multiplexes will close a few screens starting next week. Eros Cinema, which reopened as an IMAX venue recently, is reportedly closed for a week as well. Many theatres are charging less than INR 150 per show, as per the costs listed on the popular ticketing app BookMyShow.
Movie theatres like Movietime Malad, Dahisar, and Star City are charging as low as INR 100. All Mukta A2 theatres are selling tickets for a flat fee of INR 110 from morning to evening. Tickets for INR 110 can also be bought at other theatres like Chitra, Gold Cinema Dadar, and Inox Neelyog Ghatkopar.
Last year, this iconic theatre made news when it decided to start shows for Shah Rukh Khan's 'Pathaan' as early as 9 am. G7 Multiplex is home to seven movie theatres (Gaiety, Galaxy, Gemini, Grace, Gem, Glamour, and Gossip). It stands as an iconic multiplex. It has hosted song premieres for films such as 'Vikram Vedha' (2022), 'Bhediya' (2022), and 'Kalank' (2019), among others.
Other releases like 'Do Aur Do Pyaar' and 'Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2' have also failed to impress the audience. The situation is so dire that even mid-range films are not expected to hit screens anytime soon. This has left theatres in certain areas in a state of shock. The audience has not responded as expected to strategies such as lowering ticket prices and adjusting show times.
Running theatres without content is not economically viable. Producers sell films to distributors at a profit, who then sell them to exhibitors. The exhibitors bear the losses. As a result, some distributors are considering shutting them down to save on electricity costs.
However, exhibitors do not believe that the Lok Sabha Elections are the reason filmmakers are avoiding May releases. In the past, films like 'Main Hoon Naa' and '2 States' were released around election time and became huge hits. During the most recent Lok Sabha election, 'Avengers' broke all previous records.
Exhibitors argue that no Bollywood actor, apart from Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, has a large fan base. Filmmakers are looking for reasons not to release their films. They have lost the knack of making films that do well at the box office. Instead, they are making films with OTT platforms in mind.
The elections have pushed several high-budget films to release in the second half of the year. Apart from one or two films, the trade predicts May will be a dry month at the box office. Surprisingly, Rajeev Cinema in Agra has chosen to charge only INR 30 and INR 50 for tickets. However, they are hopeful of an improvement by June.
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