Big Cine Expo at Chennai: How theatres can gear up

Less than a month in the past, Thalaivan Thalaivi clashed on the Tamil cinema field workplace with Maareesan.

Later this week, the identical two movies – one that includes Vijay Sethupathi and Nithya Menen, and the opposite that includes Fahadh Faasil and Vadivelu – are clashing but once more, on the OTT house. The two movies are being releasing on Amazon Prime and Netflix respectively.

For many, who may need missed these movies on the large display, this is a chance to meet up with them. But what does a situation reminiscent of this imply to theatre house owners? Or, in less complicated phrases, why watch a movie on the large display when you’ll be able to watch it at house in just a few weeks?

This was the recent matter of debate at Big Cine Expo, held at Chennai Trade Centre on August 19 and 20. “In 2016, when OTT began off, it was not threatening. But submit the pandemic, when movies began releasing immediately on OTT platforms, this complete window of theatrical-OTT launch schedule collapsed. For many individuals, it turned a priority whether or not a sure movie will hit the large display or not,” mentioned Thomas D’Souza, Senior Vice President (Programming), PVR-INOX.

Is the onus on the cinema corridor stakeholders or the makers to tug in audiences? It is the latter, felt Rahul Puri of Mukta A2 Cinemas. “Cinema halls can see footfall provided that there’s content material… content material that has intrigue worth. An ideal theatrical trailer, as an illustration, sucks folks in. It’s like a build-up to a telephone launch,” mentioned Rahul.

While the state of affairs in theatres in metropolitan cities may not be rosy, the story is slightly totally different in tier-2 and tier-3 centres. Like in Mysore, as an illustration, the place a nondescript Kannada movie sans large names titled Su from So is popping out to be a success. “We have had 16 days with packed homes,” mentioned Vaishali Hanumanth of DRC Cinemas, “People are coming in as early as 7am to look at the movie. Lots of people from the brand new technology are coming in to look at Kannada movies as effectively. It proves that content material is king.”

Billed as a conglomeration for all stakeholders within the cinema enterprise, Big Cine Expo additionally showcased stalls that handled ticketing, acoustics, inside design, popcorn and different features associated to theatres.