Aamir says India needs more theaters, cites China's example
What's the story
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan recently spoke about the need for more cinema halls in India. Speaking to Variety India, he said that the country's film industry could benefit from increased theatrical infrastructure. He emphasized that India's size and diversity necessitate more cinema halls to reach a wider audience. "India's a huge country...each state has its own language, its own culture, its own films," he said.
Infrastructure disparity
Khan compares India's cinema infrastructure with China's
Khan also compared India's cinema infrastructure with that of China. He pointed out that while India has around 9,000 screens, China boasts a whopping 1 lakh screens. He said, "What is the comparison? We are one-tenth their size in outlets, which is why one big film when in China does huge business, it does two billion US dollars. Just in China, not in the rest of the world."
Future prospects
He believes expanding the number of screens will help India
Khan believes that increasing the number of screens in India will help expand the film business at a grassroots level. He said, "When we increase our number of screens, you'll see the business expand at the grassroots level. The base of your pyramid will go wide." He also gave an example of Ranveer Singh's recent hit Dhurandhar, which is currently Bollywood's all-time highest grosser.
Box office potential
How much more successful would 'Dhurandhar' have been?
Khan wondered how much more successful Dhurandhar could have been if it had been released on 15,000 screens instead of just 5,000. "Let's take the example of Dhurandhar, which has done around ₹1,000 crore. Now, imagine if it had been released in not 5,000 screens but in 15,000 screens. Massive!" he said. He added that many districts in India currently don't even have a single screen for films.