Bangalore/Mumbai: A slate of flop Bollywood films have hit India’s top cinemas hard, forcing the industry to rely heavily on the current festive quarter to revive its fortunes.
The country’s top multiplex operators, Inox and PVR, which reported results this week, both blamed lack of good content for the slowdown in Q2 performance, and said they are betting on the third quarter to help them grow. to get back on track.
Karan Taurani, analyst at Elara Capital, said, “Q3 (for companies) is crucial.
Audiences have traditionally flocked to cinemas during India’s busy festival season, culminating in the Hindu festival of Diwali, which will be celebrated on Monday.
Producers save the biggest films of the year for Diwali releases, and while the industry expects them to do well during this period, it may not be as festive this year.
Film producer and trade analyst Girish Johar said, “Even the third quarter release, which happens during the festive season, is somewhat muted and overwhelming in the response they are getting.”
Analysts at domestic brokerage and research firm Nirmal Bang said the occupancy rate at Inox was 17% for the quarter, with PVR at 24%, blaming weak attendance on “poor consumer engagement with content released in Q2”.
In the first quarter, Inox reported an occupancy rate of 29%, while PVR said it had a 33.6% rate in the same period.
The two chains are set to merge in an all-stock deal and become the largest exhibition company in the country with 1,546 screens in 109 cities.
“We all know that occupancy is related to the content that we are showing. And we have some big challenges ahead with content in the second quarter,” Inox Chief Executive Alok Tandon said in an earnings call on Wednesday.
Moreover, the rise of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime during the COVID pandemic has added to the growing fatigue of Bollywood among the younger generation, who see many of its films as outdated and out of fashion.
“Ram Setu” (Lord Ram’s Bridge) and “Thank God” are the two main Bollywood releases scheduled for next week, both starring actors who have proved to be box office hits in the past. -Reuters
Read also: ‘Are there Kashmiris in the hall?’ From Palladium to INOX, Kashmir’s love of cinema is back