In his recent interview, Manoj Desai, the Executive director of Maratha Mandir Cinema and G7 Multiplex, announced that he will cut down the ticket prices of his single-screen theatres in Mumbai, in order to bring back people to the cinema halls. According to a report by Hindustan Times, Desai said that the decision was made in response to the poor performance of Bollywood films in recent times.
Elaborating on his decision, he shared that the prices of Maratha Mandir and Gaeity Galaxy will be reduced from ₹140 and ₹170 to ₹130 and ₹150 respectively from 21 November.
In continuation to the report, Desai told Hindustan Times, "Multiplexes are for rich people, who want to spend thousands on tickets and food. Jis public ko paise ki padi nahi hai, wo waha jaakar enjoy karle. But, middle-class family mein, jahan 4-5 log ho, toh unka toh poora salary chala jayega ek hi film dekhne mein. (Those who don't care about the money, can enjoy there. But, a middle-class family of four-five people, will have to spend their entire salary to just watch one film)."
"I want Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir to be the places where people continue to come for experience. And if I am getting advantage of 40 per cent people from the outside, so to have them come to theatres, if I’ve to cut the ticket price, I’ll happily do that. It’s better than having vacant seats in the cinema hall,” he further told the publication.
Talking about the poor performance of the latest Bollywood releases, he told Hindustan Times, "Movies of (late filmmakers) Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra would run for weeks. Abhi Bollywood ko kya ho gaya hai? (What has happened to Bollywood now?) Why can’t they make a proper story? Where are the good directors, artists, writers? What’s happening?"
He further told the publication that South films like Kantara, KGF, and Pushpa performed way better than the Bollywood films; among which, Kantara had a 100 percent occupancy rate.
The end of November will see the theatrical releases of Ajay Devgn's Drishyam 2 and Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon's Bhediya.
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