Thiruvananthapuram: Pulimurugan may appear invincible, but is not immune to the lull after demonetisation, according to theatre staff in the city. “The weekly collections of all films have reduced. The collections of the all-time hit during these weeks have almost halved,” says a personnel at Aries Plex SL Cinema. Recently modernised theatres have been feeling the pinch more. Ticket charge would be as high as '400. Families would be reluctant to spend that much during this time, according to theatre staff. They say that counter payments have come down, and many are opting for online booking.
The collections have dwindled at the end of an otherwise fabulous year for theatre owners. The cess that the corporation collected between March and August was Rs 47,60,310, according to the figures submitted by deputy mayor Rakhi Ravikumar, who chairs finance standing committee. This amount is higher than what they collected in the previous term, according to her. “The number of moviegoers are more than before. This is because the number of theatres has gone up. Moreover, facilities at movie halls are not the same as before,” says Mr Ravikumar.
Halls, which offer a 4K resolution, twin projectors and 62 channel Dolby Atmos, are a favourite choice among viewers to watch movies like Baahubali or Pulimurugan. There is also a marked difference in the kind of audience that goes for movies, the staff says. More and more people have been choosing non-Malayalam options. For three days, the Telugu make of Mohanlal-starrer Vismayam ran to a packed audience at a city theatre.
However, at a theatre, which is yet to adopt cutting-edge technologies, the staff felt no difference in the collection. “Demonetisation has hardly affected us,” one of them said. If the cess collected after demonetisation was lesser, the corporation has not been able to figure it out. This is because the cess is paid in advance. Should the number of tickets sold is higher or lesser, this is adjusted later, according to a corporation official.
