On September 2, the Multiplex Association of India (MAI) announced that the National Cinema Day would be held in India on September 16 wherein several cinemas would offer tickets for just Rs. 75. As expected, moviegoers were jubilant. After all, in metro cities especially, the average ticket price is usually more than Rs. 150 or Rs. 200. As a result, getting a chance to watch a film at such a cheap rate excited patrons and many had already made plans to throng cinema halls on September 16.
However, it seems like the aam junta would have to wait a little more to take advantage of this offer. A source told Bollywood Hungama, “The MAI has decided to postpone the National Cinema Day by a week. It’ll now be held on Friday, September 23, instead of Friday, September 16.”
When asked for the reason behind this move, the source replied, “The Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra is the dominant film at present and is doing great. It was strong even on Monday, which proves that it’ll do strong business on the second weekend too. Disney, who has released Brahmastra, hence requested the multiplex association to push the celebrations by a week.”
The source continued, “The MAI and the multiplex teams found merit in their request. We all know that Brahmastra is a very costly movie. It needs to daily clock a huge number to become a hit and the Rs. 75 offer might prove to be a dampener. The multiplexes are also grateful to Brahmastra as this is the film that ended the dry period at the box office. Therefore, they all agreed to Disney’s plea. The National Cinema Day will now be held on September 23, on Brahmastra’s third Friday.”
An industry expert remarked, “Brahmastra’s ticket rates have been inflated. Yet, audiences are coming in huge numbers. They’ll do so in the second weekend as well, regardless of the ticket prices, which is why it’s a practical move to not sell its ticket for dirt cheap prices on its eighth day.”
National Cinema Day was celebrated in the USA on September 3. Multiplexes there offered movie tickets for a price as low as $3 (Rs. 240 approx.). The United Kingdom and Middle-Eastern countries too joined in.
According to the MAI, multiplex chains like PVR, Inox, Cinepolis, Carnival, Miraj, City Pride, Asian, Mukta A2, Movie Time, Wave, M2K, Delite etc will be participating in the celebrations.
“National Cinema Day will bring together audiences of all ages to enjoy a day at the movies. It also celebrates the successful reopening of cinemas and is a ‘thank you’ to the moviegoers who made this happen. It is an invitation to those moviegoers who haven’t made it back to a cinema near them, yet,” the MAI said in a statement.
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