Empty halls await Diwali

It’s Diwali, and that’s exactly what cinema halls in Delhi and NCR are looking to capitalise on.
After Diwali euphoria ends tonight, families are bound to head to cinema halls for entertainment over the weekend, and with two big budget movies, “Action Replayy” and “Golmaal 3”, lined up, cinemas are hoping that the dismal spell of the past week will end for good.
Hopes are high from the two movies, which collectively have `90 crore riding on them. On one side is the duo of Aishwarya-Akshay, and on the other, there are Ajay Devgn and Kareena Kapoor in their multi-starrer. The stars, cinemas are hoping, will bring back crowds into the halls.
No Blast In The Past
The past week has been exceptionally low, with average occupancy in cinemas ranging between 20-35%. But it has been the trend over the past few years, says Deepak Taluja, senior vice president, operations, at Fun Cinemas, adding, “Last year, the occupancy was exceptionally low pre-Diwali, between 9-10%. This year too, we saw the same figures. But it will hopefully change from today.”
Other cinema halls too – multiplex and single screen – witnessed similar figures. While DT Cinemas saw weekday occupancy dip below 15%, weekends fared better at 30%. For Satyam Cineplexes, says an official, occupancy was between 5-6% despite movies like “Jhootha Hi Sahi” and “Rakhta Charitra”, which had managed good reviews. It’s been the same for single screens. Says Shashank Raizada, director, Delite Theatre, “The week’s been quite weak in terms of collections. We’re hoping this will change after Diwali.”
The reason, says Anant Verma, director and business head, DT Cinemas, is that people are occupied with distributing gifts and personal chores before Diwali, and don’t have time for films. He adds, “Collections on the day of Diwali are also low. It’s only from tomorrow that it’ll pick up and rise with a bang.”
Diwali Bonanza
As standard practice, filmmakers prefer to release movies on Eid and the in subsequent festive season with Navratra, but take a break before Diwali. Hence, hopes are high from Diwali releases. The season beginning today will now last till Valentine’s Day next year. Several big movies release in this period, including “Action Replayy”, “Golmaal 3”, “Guzaarish”, “Break Ke Baad”, “Saat Khoon Maaf” and “No One Killed Jessica”. With today’s releases, cinemas are expecting occupancy to touch 90% over the next two days. Taluja explains, “With two comedies on offer this time, we expect more families to turn up. We expect occupancy between 95-100% tomorrow and day after.” And with theatres promising to keep pricing consistent, there’s a good chance of that happening.
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