New Delhi: On September 2, the Multiplex Association of India (MAI) announced that September 16 would be celebrated as National Cinema Day in India, and movie tickets would be available for Rs 75 on that day. Now, the association has decided to postpone National Cinema Day by a week. It will now be observed on September 23, instead of September 16.
According to a report in Bollywood Hungama, the decision has been taken due to the roaring response of ‘Brahmastra’ at the box office.
“The Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra is the dominant film at present and is doing great. It was strong even on Monday, which proves that it’ll do strong business on the second weekend too. Disney, who has released Brahmastra, hence requested the multiplex association to push the celebrations by a week. The MAI and the multiplex teams found merit in their request. We all know that Brahmastra is a very costly movie. It needs to daily clock a huge number to become a hit and the Rs. 75 offer might prove to be a dampener. The multiplexes are also grateful to Brahmastra as this is the film that ended the dry period at the box office. Therefore, they all agreed to Disney’s plea. The National Cinema Day will now be held on September 23, on Brahmastra’s third Friday” Bollywood Hungama quoted its source.
The association, however, did not mention anything about ‘Brahmastra’ in its statement that read, "The Multiplex Association of India (MAI) and Cinemas across India, welcome moviegoers to spend a day at the movies with celebratory admission price of ₹75 to mark National Cinema Day. The National Cinema Day was previously announced to be held on 16th September, however, on request from various ‘stake holders’ and in order to maximise participation, it would now be held on 23rd September.
The statement added that more than 4000 screens, including those of the cinema chains PVR, INOX, Cinepolis, Carnival, MIRA, Citypride, ASIAN, Mukta A2, Movie Time, Wave, M2K and Delite are participating.
“National Cinema Day will bring together audiences of all ages to enjoy a day at the movies. National Cinema Day celebrates the successful reopening of cinemas and is a 'thank you' to the moviegoers who made this happen. National Cinema Day is also an invitation to those moviegoers who haven't made it back to a cinema near them, yet. India has a thriving domestic film industry and has seen one of the sharpest recoveries in the film exhibition business, globally. Quarter 1, FY'23 recorded impressive numbers among cinema operators on the back of global and local tent poles that resonated with the Indian audience. The quarter was marked by the release of some of the biggest domestic hits like KGF: Chapter 2, RRR, Vikram, Bhool Bhulaiya 2 and Hollywood hits such as Doctor Strange and Top Gun Maverick,” it added.
The MAI took the decision of celebrating National Cinema Day after theatres in the US announced that Movie tickets would be available for as low as $3 (approximately Rs 239) on National Cinema Day, celebrated on September 3. The usual ticket pricing is at $9.17 (Rs 731 approx).