Remember the International Cinema Day? That is the day of highly concessional cinema tickets. The cinemas in the US and UK introduced the cinema day last year. In that post-Covid19 lockdown phase, it looked as if the moviegoers had lost interest in going to the cinemas. As a result, exhibitors all over, feeling the pinch, had to find a way to get their audience back to the cinemas.
The idea these exhibitors came up with was to introduce the cinema day. On this day, the admission rates were cut to affordable levels. Say, $4 in the US and £3 in the UK. A half or less than that of the normal admission rates. Now there was a supply of films (though limited because of the Covid19 lockdown). But, there was no demand, folks were not quite inclined yet to visit the cinemas for various reasons.
One of the reasons for the people to keep away from cinemas was also the rise of OTT streaming platforms, besides the Pay Per View and Pay TV facilities already available at home. OTT had proved to be a perfect alternative to the silver screen.
So, what was the International Cinema Day aimed at? It was a plan to reintroduce movie lovers to the cinema, the big screen. It was meant for people to return to that big screen experience and to having popcorn and cola while watching a film.
One day of concessional admission rates was the bait, like the annual or end of season sales at supermarkets. You end up at a cinema even if you have been reluctant so far. It was common knowledge that this was not going to happen every day! This marketing ploy had served its purpose.
When the flow of films the people wanted to watch got better, the audience came back to the cinemas. Box office figures of the post- Covid19 lockdown films will vouch for that.
Still, the cinemas in the UK and the US, and in some other countries, organised the Cinema Day even this year. For them, it was not a flash in the pan. They wanted to make it a tradition.
So, this year, the UK celebrated the day on September 2 with admission rates blocked at £3; in the US , it happened on August 27 with a standard admission rate of $4. Exhibitors in other countries such as Australia and Holland also marked this special day.
Indian exhibitors had a cinema day of their own, too, last year. Naturally, one would expect them to do so this year as well. The announcement to this effect was expected.
The call is going to be tough, though! Last year, on Cinema Day, tickets were offered at concessional rates because there was no flow of new releases. The cinemas were trying various marketing gimmicks, such as having Amitabh Bachchan retrospectives and revivals of Hollywood classics, and the Cinema Day was one of them.
Last year, the Cinema Day had to be postponed from the planned date. ‘Brahmastra’ was the new release of the week. It was a high-budget project and makers would not want reduced admission rates by any means.
Eventually, September 27 was marked as the Cinema Day, which turned out to be a fruitful experiment for the cinema chains and an opportunity for people to catch up on an affordable movie outing.
This year, the Indian Cinema Day hasn’t even been announced because the circumstances have changed. There is a flow of films and the recent new releases are all doing well.
‘Gadar 2’ and ‘OMG 2’ released simultaneously on August 11. While ‘Gadar 2’ has proved to be a blockbuster, ‘OMG 2’ has also met with success. Both films, between them, closed the first week with Rs 370 crore, although ‘Gadar 2’ took the lion’s share with Rs 284 crore.
‘Dream Girl 2’ followed a fortnight later and kept the box office ticking. And then came Shah Rukh Khan starring in ‘Jawan’ on September 7 and the next will be ‘Fukrey 3’ after a two week gap.
So, where is the scope to mark the Cinema Day and offer concessional admission rates?
Looks like the cinemas in the UK and the US and other countries are set to turn the International Cinema Day into an annual tradition, the Indian cinemas will have to make an event to fall back on as and when faced with huge gaps between new releases.