Can Brahmastra break the jinx for multiplexes? Abneesh Roy explains

“Multiplexes need one good movie every month. In the last three months, we have not seen that. It is very important that every month one blockbuster is there because there are four weeks you would need to fill up in terms of occupancy at least upwards of 25%-30% for a very good number,” says
Abneesh Roy,
Executive Director
, Edelweiss Securities



Look at what is happening to PVR and . Currently both are down and out and is this because you are getting initial reactions to the movie Brahmastra? What is riding on these companies?

Definitely for theatres, content and the movie doing well is critical.
Brahmastra, if you see, was supposed to be a life saver, a game changer from a near term perspective because the last three months have been quite tough. Yes, there has been a lot of marketing and hype has been very strong which was the right step.

Also we have seen that the ticket sales, advance booking has been very strong. My sense is, over the weekend, data will be strong after that it will all boil down to the script, whether the expectations on VFX have been met because this movie is very strong on VFX and so the consumer will check whether his expectations are getting met.

Definitely the star cast is very strong but we have seen in last three months that just the star cast is not enough, the consumer has now got a lot of OTT and other options because now mobility is also back and so in order to get the footfalls on a consistent basis and not just advance booking or the first weekend, what definitely the script has to be strong.

The VFX and the overall production quality have to be strong. If the number one star takes 80% of the budget of the movie, in the balance 20%, these things start suffering and so the industry has to do a course correction in terms of the cost model and also because currently viewers are facing inflation and prioritising good content.

So over the weekend we will get more clarity on the consumer feedback for
Brahmastra, whether the review is good because in the age of social media that is very important. Advance booking data is very strong but reviews will really drive consequent performance.


We have seen big movies come and go while small movies have exceeded expectations. So, why is there such a big disappointment? When you make 10 big budget movies, one will go flop or two will go super hit?

That is not true. In the last two months, all the Bollywood movies have flopped. The last big Hindi movie was Kashmir Files. After that so many movies have come with a very strong actor cast also but still movies have failed to be hits. This kind of consumer behaviour is seen when a customer goes, spends a lot of money and then the content does not click with him. Then he decided to go back only when he was sure about the content.

In the last three months, we have not really seen any good Bollywood performances. In regional cinema, some movies have done well but a lot of them have not worked as per expectations. I will say
Brahmastra is very closely watched and it is not like a typical film. Yes, the next big event to watch will be essentially at the end of the month for Vikram Vedha.

You are saying that the last three-four months have not been that great in terms of content but it is just like saying that some players in the team are not playing well and they cannot hit a century in their 11th match because for 10 matches or 12 matches they have not been performing?
No, it is not like that. Multiplexes need one good movie every month. In the last three months, we have not seen that. It is very important that every month one blockbuster is there because there are four weeks you would need to fill up in terms of occupancy at least upwards of 25%-30% for a very good number.

Q1 was extremely strong for the movie industry. It was obviously the best number on every metric but after that, it has been the other way round. So yes, every month we need one big hit for good health of the industry. It is very important to have one good movie every month for this industry to do well. Yes, course correction is happening in terms of content. Since in the last two years because of Covid, many movies did not release, some of that content was also old. But now producers and script writers are going back to the table in terms of what the customer wants. Hopefully, we will see better movies.