The cinemas in Kerala seem to be witnessing a decline in footfall for small and medium budget movies even as the audiences are lapping up ‘mass entertainers’, going by the feedback from stakeholders in the Malayalam film industry.
“We could not name even a single Malayalam movie that had a theatrical impact over the last three weeks. The audience cannot be blamed as an increasing number of movie buffs are looking out for content that prompts them to watch it on the big screen,” said K. Vijayakumar, president of the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala.
Attributing the slump in viewership as a fallout of the mad rush among the lead actors and a section of the frontline producers for OTT release during the pandemic, Mr. Vijayakumar said that a filmgoer is now more inclined to watch a small or medium budget movie on the digital platform. “But the same audience would throng theatres to watch mass entertainers like K.G.F: 2 or Vikram,” he said.
Agreeing that the theatre response of the recent small and medium budget movie was below expectations, Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) president M. Renjith said that family audiences were not going to theatres unless they felt that the movie should be watched in theatres. “The big releases, including super hit films in other languages, had the support of youth who came out to theatres in large numbers. The youngsters have now turned decision makers on whether to watch a movie in a theatre or wait for its OTT release,” he said.
KFPA treasurer B. Rakesh said the OTT platforms currently preferred screening a movie after its theatrical release. “The initial euphoria over the attractive price quoted for OTT rights, especially in the pandemic times, has died down. The rates for OTT and satellite rights for small and medium movies have gone down considerably,” he said.
