Indians seek experiences, drive live events biz

Indian live events are thriving post-Covid with a resurgence in unique experiences. Organized events grew 20% in 2023, exceeding pre-Covid levels.

Theatre actor Saurabh Shukla, the inimitable judge in popular Bollywood film ‘Jolly LLB’, has been performing ‘Barff’ -- a Hindi play written and directed by him, for some years. However, the recent response to the play in Delhi took him by surprise. The theatre was houseful on May 25 even though it was polling day in the Capital, as well as on May 26 which was the day for the Indian Premier League finals. In late June, Hindi writer and storyteller Divya Prakash Dubey similarly entered a packed auditorium for his live show ‘Storybaazi’ – a solo storytelling performance totaling 90 minutes.

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Meanwhile, Felicity Theatre’s Rahull Buchar has already taken his super hit play ‘Humare Ram’ across Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Ujjain and Jaipur, where it ran to full houses. “The response has been unprecedented. Our next stop is Pune before we take the play to the US, Canada and the UK,” Buchar told HT.

These may be examples of very local entertainment shows appealing to the Indian palate but audiences are thronging international music festivals, poetry reading sessions, theatre, stand-up comedy, food festivals and sporting events, in equal measure.

“There’s been a resurgence of live events in the country post-Covid as people are chasing unique experiences,” Buchar says. India always had a rich history of live performances but Covid became the catalyst in reviving interest in live shows in a big way, he adds.

BookMyShow’s trend report for 2023 backs his claim. A December release from the company said starting with the inaugural edition of Lollapalooza India, live entertainment took centre stage with 13.5 million people stepping out for live events on-ground. “India is at the brink of a live entertainment revolution…with Indian audiences’ appetite for specially curated, quality entertainment experiences from across the world and India, growing at a rapid pace,” it said. There were 26,359 live events in 2023 in over 250 cities, the company said.

Organised live events segment grew 20% in 2023 to touch ₹8,800 crore in 2023, exceeding pre-Covid levels, said a Ficci-EY report. This included personal and government events as well as ticketed Indian and international events. Live events segment is expected to grow at 18% for the next three years to touch ₹14,300 crore. This does not include the revenue of the multitude of “unorganized” event companies spread across the country, Ficci-EY said.

That live events are getting bigger and attracting footfalls is evident in food delivery platform Zomato’s interest in buying Paytm’s movie ticketing and events business. The two leading players in online ticketing for cinema and live events are BookMyShow and Paytm Insider.

Live events are finding a ready audience in tier 2 markets and higher ticket prices are leading to higher revenue. Besides, new sporting events and international music festivals are boosting growth with people willing to pay for novel live show formats. Ficci-EY report lists cities like Surat, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Vizag, Lucknow, Patna, Ayodhya, Trivandrum and Cochin where it expects live events to thrive. Rise in per capita incomes has led to significant growth in ticketed events, it said.

Felicity’s Buchar says people are willing to pay for good content. The company managed to charge upto ₹12,000 for premium seats in select theatres for its new play. Divya Prakash Dubey agrees that the culture of free passes is over making events business attractive. “Even smaller Open Mic shows sell modestly priced tickets and there’s no dearth of audiences,” he says.

Confined at home during Covid, people discovered the marvels of on-demand streaming but the realization of uncertainty of life is making them seek happiness in experiences rather than in things, Buchar says.

A June survey by Deloitte shows that Indian consumers have increased expenditure on categories like recreation and entertainment, leisure and travel, while spending on traditional retail segments such as fashion and lifestyle saw flat volume growth.

People are open to looking beyond their staple diet of theatre and music to try newer formats. “The ecosystem for some of these formats still needs to evolve like standup comedy which has already matured and created several stars,” says Dubey.

But audiences are coming to theatres for more than just a laugh. Popular fiction writer and storyteller Dubey says, “They are coming for more authentic and personalized experiences. As someone said to me, they are seeking a real, slice-of-life experience which is more therapeutic.”