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— Sushil Kumar Verma

With more movies lined up for release, things are looking up for multiplexes.

Varada Bhat

Mumbai, July 9 Multiplex operators plan to increase ticket prices following the turnaround in occupancy levels over the last fortnight.

“We have seen around 60-65 per cent occupancy levels. People have just started coming back to movie halls after a long gap. We will now wait for sometime and decide,” said Mr Alok Tandon, Chief Executive Officer, Inox Leisures.

Occupancies have been on the rise, thanks largely to new releases like New York and Kambakkht Ishq.

“We had full shows last Thursday during the paid preview of Kambakkht Ishq,” said Mr Devang Sampat, Senior Vice-President, Cinemax. Previews are screened a day prior to the release of a film and generally command a 25-30 per cent premium.

“With the release of New York, the numbers have been good and we are seeing huge demand. Since releases have just started, we have to take a decision at some point or other. For the time being, we will just wait and watch,” Mr Anil Arjun, Chief Executive Officer, Adlabs Films, told Business Line.

Operators are equally upbeat about the coming days with movies like Kaminey, Love Aaj Kal, ShortKut and Luck due to hit the screens. This has also been a heady time for Hollywood releases like Terminator Salvation, The Hangover, Bolt and Ice Age 3- Dawn of Dinosaurs which have been getting 60-70 per cent occupancy, said Mr Sampat.

An Angel Broking report says that occupancies fell to 25-30 per cent with some multiplexes opting for fewer screens in each property to keep cost of operations low.

Nearly 70 per cent of revenue comes from ticket sales, 20 per cent from food and beverages and the balance from on- and off-screen advertisements.

More Stories on : Outlook | Entertainment & Leisure | Cinema

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