“The movie tickets alone cost us ₹800, and we spent ₹1,200 on popcorn and the rest on beverages. They ended up shelling out ₹3,000 on tickets and food. Last week, Firoz Ahmed, 29, went to watch Satyaprem Ki Katha with a friend. I would like to subscribe, albeit for a short time, to the OTT platform where it is available." If I only have Prime, I won’t be able to watch it at all. Would he consider subscribing to any other OTT platform? “I am planning to get a Netflix subscription. This is unlike most Tamilians who are crazy about the ‘first day, first show’." “I wait at least for a week before I go to watch any movie in theatres. Occasionally, he goes out to watch Hollywood or Bollywood movies with friends. Raghav has subscribed to only one OTT platform-Amazon Prime- and mostly watches Tamil movies with his family. “Earlier, I would watch more than 10-12 movies in a year but I have cut back on it due to my work schedule," he says. It’s comparatively cheaper, thanks to the fixed ticket prices in Chennai. Raaghav’s, 38, is an aficionado as well, though he spends less than ₹5,000 on about six movies at the theatres in a year. Last year, he watched 10 movies in the theatres and it could very well be lesser this year. Jajani, however, has decided to restrict his theatre experience to just a few select movies. “I’ll be watching Oppenheimer in a theatre, but I know I’ll watch it over and over once it is made available on OTT ," he says. Moreover, some movies deserve to be watched twice, thrice or even more number of times. What he likes about OTTs is the variety of content and access to classics from the 50s and 60s. He even tried Sony Liv for a while bud did not like its interface. Jajani, who spends ₹10,000-12,000 a year on movie outings, has subscribed to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney-Hotstar. “I watched about 110 movies in 2022 and 10 of these were in the theatres," he says. Jajani says that his movie outings are less frequent now and he relies more on OTT subscriptions. Sometimes he uses his ICICI Bank credit card for a ‘buy one, get one’ ticket from BookMyShow. I spend about ₹1,500 each time I take my wife to the movies," Jajani, a resident of Siliguri, says. It is different now that I am working and married. “Earlier I would go to just about any theatre and the timings, too, did not matter. Mint spoke to many film enthusiasts about their choice.Ībhishek Jajani, 30, is a quintessential movie buff who claims to watch at least 100 movies in a year. So, would you rather go to the theatres or stream your favourite content at home? The annual subscription for Amazon Prime or Disney-Hotstar is just ₹1,499, the price of a single movie ticket in Delhi or Mumbai. Compare this with over-the-top (OTT) offerings. So, a family of four would have to shell out ₹4,000 for just one movie outing. Add to it the cost of food and beverages along with travel, and it can set you back by ₹1,000 per person. Data from brokerage ICICI Securities shows the average ticket price at PVR-Inox for premium and regular screens is ₹535.7 (see graphic) and ₹199.7, respectively. Going to the movies has become an expensive affair, especially at multiplexes in the major metros. So, watching a movie at PVR: Directors Cut in Bengaluru would make you poorer by at least ₹1,500. In Karnataka, a government order to fix a price cap of ₹200 has been embroiled in a legal dispute. Andhra Pradesh, too, has an upper ceiling of ₹177 for regular tickets, while the tickets are generally cheaper in Kerala. Same is the case with Telangana, where the cap is ₹295 for regular tickets. Movie tickets generally cost less than ₹160 including GST in Tamil Nadu, where there is a cap on ticket prices unless there is a special permit for certain movies. While premium seats cost you a bomb in either Delhi or Mumbai, it is just ₹211 in Chennai, be it for a high budget movie.
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