The Cinema Crisis (Series 3/4): The Situation in India
A movie theater in New Delhi invited on October 15, 2020 all "warriors against Covid-19" and their families to watch the film "Tanhaji".
© Prakash Singh / AFP
Text by: Sébastien Farcis Follow
4 min
In India, cinemas were authorized to reopen by the federal government on October 15, after seven months of closure due to the health crisis.
India, it should be remembered, is the country with the second highest number of Covdi-19 cases, after the United States.
Most states have therefore reopened their theaters, but with strict hygiene and distancing measures ... and the public is only returning timidly.
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With our correspondent in New Delhi,
In this New Delhi cinema, the first step in buying a ticket is to give your phone number.
No more paper tickets, you get them on your cell phone.
Then, in the building, there are two different stages: guards take our temperature, check that we are wearing a mask.
And here we are in the room.
Inside, of the 300 seats, half are barred with plastic bands.
You can only sit on one seat in two, to ensure a certain distance.
Anyway, don't worry about it this Wednesday evening, there are only four spectators in the room.
When movie theaters break the admission price
Among them, the young Afraz came with his brother.
He's a regular.
“
I'm not afraid of the Covid-19 here, look, there is nobody.
This is the third time that I have visited since they reopened.
I couldn't take it any longer to stay home!
I come twice a week now.
My dad doesn't want me to go to bars, so to pass the time after work I come here.
It's cool, I relax, and it's cheaper than before: 100 rupees.
"
This cinema chain, PVR, has slashed the entry price, which falls to around 1 euro per ticket.
It must be said that the majority of films are reruns, like the one shown tonight, an Indian feature film released in 2018, and which Afraz loves.
“
I have already seen this film 7 times.
It's one of my favorites.
I love going to the movies and I go to see the same movies several times.
"
The offer of rooms and the public's confidence
This lack of new feature films is one of the biggest problems for operators, as confirmed by Kunal Sawnhey, vice president and head of operations at Carnival Cinemas group.
“
In all regions where there is no new content, theaters are only occupied 10 or 15% of their capacity.
But in West Bengal, during the Durga Puja festival, new films were released and theaters were then full for four days.
Our priority is to regain the confidence of the public so that they return to theaters.
For that, we are reducing our prices, of course, especially since we mainly show old films.
And we also have an offer that works well, whereby all warriors against Covid-19 get a free ticket, like doctors, municipal workers and police.
"
Cinemas are still closed in several major Indian states, such as Tamil Nadu and Telangana, and have only just reopened in the Mumbai area.
► To read also: The cinema crisis (Series 1/4): The film industry facing reconfinement
► To read also:
The cinema crisis (Series 2/4): The situation in the United States
► To read also:
The cinema crisis (Series 3/4): The situation in India
► To read also:
The cinema crisis (Series 4/4): The situation in Tunisia
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