Box Office is booming in India. So is the count of new releases in the world's largest film market by volume. But, what fails to grow in sync is the number of screens beyond 9,500.
The screen additions by multiplex chains in the post-Covid period so far has been mostly the capacity that was help up due to the pandemic, pointed out Amit Sharma, managing director of Miraj Cinemas.
Movie screens added by multiplexes in the last two years have made up for the screens India lost during the pandemic.
"The situation is such that it is forcing exhibitors to let go off some properties and it is across the board. Before the pandemic, we (multiplexes) were doing 300-350 screen additions every year and the numbers are the same after the pandemic as well. There is less inventory that has come up in the post-pandemic period and it is mostly the pre-pandemic inventory which is opening up. In fact, exhibitors are trying to downsize the number of screens," he said.
Slow growth
While Miraj Cinemas added close to 90-95 screens in the post-pandemic period, it shut down 15-20 screens.
India's top multiplex operator PVR Inox also closed 85 screens in FY24 and plans to shut down 70 more in FY25. The company has also said that screen closures will be a constant exercise as most of the assets have lived their life. Cinemas that have been closed are mostly housed in malls that recorded a steady reduction in footfalls, the company said.
India has around 5,500 single screens and 4,000 multiplex screens, according to Devang Sampat, managing director of Cinepolis India. However, Sharma estimates that the country doesn't have more than 6,500-7,500 serviceable screens.
"I don’t see more than 1,200-1,300 screens getting added in total in the next five years. My best bet is 1,000 screen additions. There are a lot of screens which have shut down due to the pandemic. There has been a certain amount of de-growth in the country. The multiplex screens in the country in the next five years will be somewhere around 5,000 screens."
Screen struggle
In the two years of the pandemic, theatres suffered huge losses due to full as well as partial closure of cinemas which led to shutting down of around 10-12 percent of screens. In 2019, India had 6,327 single screens and 3,200 multiplexes.
The impact of Covid still lingers with footfalls down by 30 percent. "Movie consumption is down across India. While in markets like Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru, the dent is less with admissions (footfalls) down by 15-20 percent, in places like Hyderabad, certain markets of North India the admission is down by 30-40 percent."
Movie consumption as well as releases have been erratic in the post-Covid period. This year theatres have been finding it hard to make ends meet due to fewer releases as many producers, filmmakers held movie releases due to Lok Sabha elections 2024.
Although supply is expected to stabilise from June with big-ticket movies like Kalki 2898 AD starring South superstar Prabhas, Deepika Padukone; screen growth is expected to remain under stress with less number of malls coming up, said exhibitors.
Multiplex movie screens
The multiplex screen growth story may not be a blockbuster but exhibitors are making efforts to increase screen count.
Cinépolis India is set to open 74 screens by the end of 2025 and take the total screen portfolio to 442 across 82 cinemas, compared to its current count of 398 screens in 74 cinemas.
"We plan to invest over Rs 130 crore by the end of 2025 for opening new screens with an average capex (capital expenditure) of Rs 3 crore per screen," Sampat said.
Another multiplex player Mukta A2 Cinemas is planning to open 51 new screens by FY25/26. "By the end of this period, our total screen portfolio will reach 123 screens. In the last year, we added 14 new screens across India," said company's MD, Rahul Puri.
Miraj Cinemas will be investing higher capex this fiscal year. "The capex for screen addition is Rs 170-180 crore in this financial year. The FY22-23 capex was much smaller than FY25 as investments were less than Rs 200 crore," Sharma said.
The multiplex chain has 35 screens under fit-out (interior work) and these properties are expected to start opening from June. "We expect all 35 screens to open before August 2024. Another 25-30 screens we will take under fit-out from June to August and these screens we are hopeful to open in FY25. So, 60-70 screens we will add in FY25 and take the screen count to 270-280 from 209 screens.
On the other hand, PVR Inox will bring down its screen capex by 25 percent to Rs 450 crore in FY25 from Rs 620 crore in FY24. Out of the 120 screens that the company is planning to open in FY25, it will shut down around 70 screens with net additions of 50-60 screens.
While Puri and Sampat point out that post-Covid India's screen growth has rebounded strongly, challenges remain with saturated real estate, high real estate prices, and lack of tax incentives.
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