[myavu]

Yes I agree to this.

Being a diehard Mohanlal fan and used to watch his movies mostly FDFS since my college days. Last movie I watched in theater was his Lucifer on 28th March 2019. Till date I had watched all the Malayalam and feel good / thriller English, Hindi and Tamil movies released in OTTs. Along with that many other Web series and technology contents (YouTube) too.

I don't miss theaters anymore. Not to mention about the considerable savings of time and expenses associated with the theater experience.

Cheers!

[Eddy]

Don't miss the fact that 55 and 65 inch TVs and soundbars are getting quite common in households. You don't miss the big screen that much.

Last movie I saw in the theater was 83. The next one will be Brahmastra.

[adi_gt]

+ Projectors at home are much affordable now + Some cheap ACT 2 Popcorn. I bought one in 2019 Cricket World Cup and haven't seen back a cinema hall. Fully recommended.

[Nikhil Beke]

In my humble opinion (at the risk of sounding like a snob) I think OTT content has been a great deliverance from the dumbed-down Bollywood/conventional TV content. The latter especially deteriorated the audience tastes so much that they couldn't tolerate anything that didn't have domestic masala of vamps, sanskaari Bahu/ matriarch figures, meaningless plots(or lack of latter altogether) that dragged on for years and effectively brought down our collective IQ . Once the worldwide options opened up, audience weaning off content by Ekta Kapoor et al was bound to happen. In fact, the only members who even bother watching Tata sky etc at home are the oldies- the new content seems to ignore the next generation altogether as their target audience as the producers know that it would find no traction there at all. Try watching any of the prime time shows on conventional TV and one can't relate with any of the cardboard figures that claim to be protagonists there!
Also, accessing the low-budget quality worldwide content has become so easy! I remember watching movies by acclaimed directors only during international film festivals in Pune- there was no way of accessing those, even with VHS etc. Now that content doesn't have constraints like lack of distribution, movie theatre availability, advertisement budgets, a very niche target audience etc.

[ninjatalli]

I believe we used to put up with a lot of crap just in the name of movie hall experience.

OTT platforms have made it "easier" while reducing the cost and efforts needed. The abundance of choice makes any specific reasons (e.g. a specific hero or director following) to watch a particular movie kind of less relevant; anyway one always knows the movie will come on OTT eventually so why put the effort.

Currently unlike Bollywood, Hollywood still has series to get the pull to theatres (relatively). Marvel, DC, Bond, Bourne, etc. - you'll still see some of the audience ready to hit the theatres to get the big screen experience. Also the extravaganza in movies like these are better enjoyed (for the first time) on the big screen. Hence the success of movies like KGF, RRR and sorts too in theatres.

Brahmastra is kind of an experiment in that angle for Bollywood - clearly it's the first of many movies in that series. If they click, expect Bollywood to go that direction in a much more bigger manner. Unfortunately comedy/drama series like Houseful or Golmaal can't benefit from a big screen vs a small screen so they will eventually have to get used to OTT.

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by GTO

Reasons:

I think Covid induced lockdown & even after its lifted people preferring to avoid closed crowded places has a lot to do with this transition.

We had OTTs even before with decent content but that didn’t really lead to any dearth of footfalls in theatres. For example ’Thugs of Hindostan’ opening you see. 55cr is a big number inspite of the trailer itself being such shitty. Still people went for 1st show because of ‘star power’. But these days lot of folks wait for reviews before heading to theatres. Gone are the days when big stars could attract crowds. Much needed rationalisation IMHO.

And agreed about the heavy investments being done by OTT platforms leading to great content which is easily accessible from the comfort of your couch.

Originally Posted by GTO

Couldn't agree more with the opening para of SoumenD's post:

Good to see am not the only one

[CarNerd]

Most of the movies I have seen were on Cable TV and some on OTT. But going to a theatre is a much bigger experience. Even those movies which are not good appear great in a theatre. Not always but many times. The problem nowadays is bad movies and ticket prices. Since theatres don't have any control over the movie quality, they should reduce their prices to attract audience.

But I still want those good old days where everything good was limited and we had a great time enjoying. Today everything is available in excess but there is not much fun.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

But I still want those good old days where everything good was limited and we had a great time enjoying. Today everything is available in excess but there is not much fun.

I know exactly what you mean. As a kid with only 1 Kannada movie on Sat and 1 Hindi movie to watch on TV, all of them seemed special and fun to watch. Going to a theater was a mega event. Now I too experience choice-overload with all the streams to choose from.

But at the same time, it gave too many movies a free-pass those days. A surprising number of movies (both Bollywood and Hollywood) that are called great or 'classics' are quite simply, unwatchable. They made it big simply because there wasn't choice in those days. That in turn contributed to the rise of several 'stars' of the 90s (who are still going strong, unfortunately) who don't have any real talent, especially compared to some of the new talent that's been given a chance thanks to OTT.

All in all, I prefer the scenario today where I can choose and not get ripped off watching some ageing star who should have retired at least a decade ago, play essentially the same character again and again!

[srini1785]

Disclaimer : I haven't watched a movie in a theater in ages. Not planning on doing so in near future either.

The only criteria i have for watching anything on anything is that it should be creatively satisfying and original. I find the present bunch of movies from Bollywood to score rock bottom on those criteria. Even on entertainment value, they don't score much. Bollywood seems to be making movies only to please NRI audience and Any-wood (all others) seems to cater to their MASS base which is essentially what the word is, Mass, which by definition, just want something on the screen to either while away time or to just laugh (without logic) after a hard days work.

I had some hopes on certain directors from Bollywood but their recent outings are only disappointments.

[Dry Ice]

In the end, it’s the story that matters. Due to the opportunities on OTT, maybe most of the good writers have shifted, taking with them the art of good writing.

Bollywood has slowly transitioned to a remake factory of sorts. Movies, songs everything is just a remake of something. Very rarely we get to see some meaningful movies. Maybe they are risk averse after covid and want to bank on safe ideas.

Another trend which has probably hurt them in recent times is most regional movies releasing in multiple languages. This exposes the work to a much larger audience from the get go, diminishing the profitability of a “hindi” remake. Further reducing the pool of “safe ideas”.

[harry10]

Last movie I saw was Top Gun Maverick in IMAX. There are reasons for not going like before to a movie theatre.

Let's see the costing first.
For 2 people -
Tickets - 600-800 minimum.
Petrol/diesel - 300-400
Parking - 100-150
Food- 800-1000 atleast, excluding the food you take anything within theatre which is as usual exorbitantly priced.
Time taken for whole experience - 5-6 hours minimum.

So, 2k is a given for a single movie experience and when that movie is a dud you wonder why you wasted so much money and time.

Now I have subscriptions for-

Netflix
Prime video
Disney hotstar
Sony liv
Zee 5
Jio cinema

99% of content I want to watch will be available on any of these sooner or later. So, why bother going to a movie theatre. A 55 or 65 inch TV with a good home theatre is more than enough for my need.

Unless Word of mouth is really strong and a movie deserves a theatre experience then only I make an effort to watch it. And i know many people like me now a days.

To get people back in theatre they will have to reduce ticker and snacks prices + Bollywood has to make better movies otherwise they will incur huge losses.

[Raghu M]

Bollywood is losing out because of the mediocre content it dishes out. South films are not super good but stay a little closer to reality when compared to Bollywood (read Malayalam movies mostly). Telugu films are below average on content, now since the pan India thing has picked up, you are seeing only the ones that are doing really good. Watch the regular masala movies and you will yawn by the time hero finishes his entry and doze off by interval. Bollywood heroes are always pictured as the elite ones. Will you ever see a Ranbhir Kapoor play a poor village chap? Never. He is always the uber rich, glamourous guy who will never even have a stubble, leave alone a crumpled shirt. That content is getting too boring. A rich guy who parties, wears designer clothes, plays around finds an even ultra cool chick and they face problems that sound silly to the larger audience.

OTT is the future, if cinema houses and multiplexes think otherwise, I wish them best of luck. If you observe closely, all the malls are doing very poor business. Reason? Online shopping has picked up, the same LP shirt or a Blackberry trouser is available on the click of a button and that too a cheaper rate. Why would someone take the pain of driving down to a a mall? Malls were built so that people shop primarily, then have a good meal and then watch a movie. Now, it's the opposite. People are going there to have food, rarely watch a movie (more than the ticket rate, you loot people in the name of popcorn) and then just head back home. So, the basic purpose of why a mall was built has been rendered useless. Bottom line, malls are not going to do well which will affect the cinema theatres and overall business. I will not go to a movie theatre unless I feel bored at home. OTT throws me multiple options at the comfort of my beanbag/sofa/lounger.

[vb-saan]

I think content-wise Bollywood is not that different from what it used to be in the glory days. But with the burst of OTT (further enhanced with Covid lockdown), the average moviegoers are now far more exposed to quality content from across the world (and regional cinema within India). And along with that, I feel there is a huge reliance on remakes and biopics which made it even worse. Remakes are done without any essence or flavor of the geography, and biopics usually become caricatures or way too jingoistic.

As someone who used to watch every other Bollywood release in a movie hall, it’s quite disheartening. On a recent international flight, I tried to watch a couple of Bollywood flicks, but soon admitted failure, and when I was about to switch to something else, saw Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara on the list – its more than a decade old, but still fresh and relevant when compared to the current ones coming out of Bollywood!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

The only theatre format I miss is IMAX - nothing else comes close IMHO.

We are unlikely to visit theatres for any of the other films - preferring the comfort of the living room for such cases. The occasional films which deserve to be watched in theatres - will be watched on the IMAX format when possible.

So lesser visits, better quality experience.

[DigitalOne]

Theatres are being written-off too early, in my opinion. Yes, if you see the last couple of years' trend that's how it would feel like. But the business is transforming. A few events which I have noticed recently:

- Few families getting together from an apartment complex to watch RRR.
- Anime movies, that too in Japanese, getting a good opening; there is a niche but growing crowd to watch these.
- Senior citizens dedicated shows on weekdays. This is slowly getting popular. Sometimes the theatre also arranges transport.

I am sure in a couple of years there will be a huge F.I.R.E population who will be desperate to get out of their homes once a while. That's a market waiting to be tapped .

So, yes, the family experience of going to theatres may be on the way down fast, but theatres will survive with new business models.