Cinema Lovers’ Day: Overwhelming response to ‘any movie at ₹99’ offer of multiplexes, single screens

While some of the major players flooded their Twitter accounts with posts about the discounted pricing, the theatres that didn’t offer the subsidy received flak from users.

To mark Cinema Lovers’ Day, some multiplexes and single screens sold tickets for regular seats for as low as ₹99 on Friday. The offers were also made available for purchase from popular online booking platforms for most tier-1 cities.

The offers were also made available for purchase from popular online booking platforms for most tier-1 cities. (For representation)

With this, some of the recent releases, such as Avatar 2, Drishyam 2 and Varisu, were expected to get a fresh boost from high ticket sales due to cheap pricing.

“My friend forwarded me a tweet from a multiplex chain, and I almost immediately booked night-show tickets for Drishyam 2. I had been waiting for an opportunity to see the movie, and lucky that I did!” said Vinayak Sharma, a movie buff from Lucknow.

While some of the major players flooded their Twitter accounts with posts about the discounted pricing, the theatres that didn’t offer the subsidy received flak from users.

“The long period of the pandemic slowed down the cinema industry, but it did not deter movie lovers. We saw a huge crowd at the mall due to this offer, further proving that watching movies on a big screen is better than streaming them online. Such offers help movies reach a wider audience and also encourage people to socialise,” said Saraswati Singh, executive vice president at One Awadh Centre Mall in the state capital.

Another film enthusiast, who wanted to watch Avatar 2 in 3D, happily gave up that preference in favour of a regular seat as the latter was much cheaper. “I was tempted to watch the movie twice but held myself back. Although I am not a frequent theatre-goer, and I prefer to wait until movies are out on streaming platforms, getting tickets at Rs.99 is a good excuse to hitch a ride to a multiplex for a change,” said Anita, who took a few hours off work to catch the flick.

“Days like Cinema Lovers’ Day truly bring out one’s inner movie buff. We were glad to see a large turnout today with the offer of “Any Movie, Any Show at Rs99”,” said senior centre director Sanjeev Sarin.

A popular single-screen theatre in the city also offered the discount, and received an overwhelming response too, said Rajesh Tandon, its manager. “Varisu sold the highest number of tickets today. Despite the prices being lower, we are expecting a more than normal profit today,” he added.