Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Maidaan box office debacle: Ticket prices reduced to Rs 30, cinemas consider temporarily lowering shutters | Bollywood News

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, directed by filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar, popular for directing Salman Khan starrers like Tiger Zinda Hai and Bharat, was put together on an estimated budget of Rs 350 crore. Amit Sharma's Maidaan, supported by Boney Kapoor, was also made on a huge budget of Rs 250 crore. After 13 days at the box office, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan earned an estimated net worth of Rs 56 crore in India while Maidaan collection stood at Rs 36.3 crore.

Reports suggest that several theater operators and owners have had no choice but to reduce the number of shows as well as ticket prices to attract audiences to empty theaters.

Reducing ticket prices is the last resort for operators to attract audiences. For example, Rajeev Cinema in Agra has reduced ticket prices from Rs 80-100 to Rs 30-50. Joginder Mahajan, distributor and general secretary of the Motion Pictures Association in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, was quoted by Bollywood Hungama as saying, “They were charging Rs. 50 and Rs. 80 normally and Rs. 80 and Rs. 100 for the hit movies. They've had to resort to price cuts because enough films aren't being released. And if films come out, they don’t attract audiences.”

Vishek Chauhan, a Bihar-based exhibitor and owner of Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, told the publication: “Many exhibitors call me and ask: should we close for two months?. Where will the expenses come from? (How do we manage expenses)? At least movie theaters would save on their electricity bills by closing their doors. He added that only 20 to 30 people show up per show, forcing theaters to reduce the number of shows.

Film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi confirmed the same. As film releases are insufficient, exhibitors are trying to optimize operational costs by reducing the number of screenings. With every show going on, you have to keep the air conditioning on, and that increases your bill. That's why these measures are being taken because, without content, it makes no sense to run cinemas and increase losses.

After the release of Aayush Sharma's Ruslaan on April 26, no film will be released in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Vikrant Massey's Sabarmati Report, which was initially scheduled for release in May, will now be released in August after facing censorship issues. Rajkummar Rao's Srikanth and Deepak Tijoris Tipppsy will arrive on May 10 while Manoj Bajpayee's Bhaiyya Ji will try his luck on May 24. As there are hardly any big films released in the coming month, theater owners are now considering lowering their shutters for a few months to cut costs.

Cinemas like Mumbai's iconic Maratha Mandir, Gaiety Galaxy and Eros Cinema would be closed for at least a week or two. They also drastically reduced ticket prices and eliminated morning shows. If no films manage to run in the following weeks, cinemas will be forced to scale back operations.

Vishek, along with other exhibitors, is not happy with the decision-makers in the Hindi film industry not releasing films this election season. Vishek said: So during elections, do people just watch election-related news all day? Wouldn't they watch movies at all? Rathi, on the other hand, lamented, “There are no significant releases this week or next week. I don't understand the logic of the film industry. They claim the films wouldn't work at the moment. On what basis can they say this?

While Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan have completed over two weeks at the box office, last week's films Do Aur Do Pyaar and Dibakar Banerjee's LSD 2 are also struggling at the box office. Films like Kunal Kemmu's Madgaon Express, Tabu, Kareena Kapoor and Kriti Sanon's Crew and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire continue to perform well, but these films have almost exhausted their run in cinemas, leaving theater owners without films to be presented for the next two weeks.