It’s not the audience’s job to visit the theatres but we do it for the love of movies; can the directors and actors say the same?

This debate began after a roundtable conversation on The Hollywood Reporter India where Sabar Bonda director Rohan Kanawade said that the last film that he enjoyed at the theatres was the Hollywood film Sinners, which released in April. Saiyaara director Mohit Suri was obviously shocked hearing this, so he asked Rohan if that was the last film he watched. Rohan explained that he “didn’t get time to watch many films in theatres” this past year, but he quickly followed it up with another Marathi film that he watched two weeks ago and added that this wasn’t a mainstream film. On the same panel, Homebound director Neeraj Ghaywan, who might be at the Oscars in 2026, said that even he did not see many films in theatres this year and spoke about watching the Norwegian film Sentimental Value during his visit to Los Angeles. The Girlfriend director, Rahul Ravindran, had a similar answer as well. In a separate roundtable, Kriti Sanon could only come up with two films that she had seen in the entire 2025 – F1 and Chhaava. And these are the people who make the movies!

Ranveer Singh in a still from Dhurandhar.

‘Too busy’ for the ‘oh-so-expensive’ films

On many of these roundtable-type discussions, filmmakers, technicians and actors often talk about how going to the movies is ‘oh-so-expensive’ for the common man. Of course it is! But the ones sitting at those tables, who can afford it, aren’t going to watch these expensive films either. This, surely, is not true for everyone, but if people are struggling to come up with good Indian films that they watched this year, then it is truly shocking that none of them have realised that they are a part of a broken system.

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In a metro city like Delhi, which has no shortage of cinema halls, an average 3-hour film can turn into a 4-4.5 hour ordeal. This already tells you that the cinema chains don’t value your time. The plethora of false advertisements and promotions before a film makes you believe that the makers take you for a fool. But when a film is actually good, all of this is forgotten. There’s no data for this, but it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that one’s chances of visiting a theatre again are exponentially increased if the films are good, versus visiting again if, on a bad day, you walked into something like Param Sundari, or even worse, Loveyapa.

Makers and actors often talk about theatrical experiences and how a community experience can be transformative. There’s no doubt about that, but how can one even gauge how that experience would be for their own film if they are “too busy” to watch others’ movies in theatres? Just a few months ago, a section of the audience was really upset when Homebound didn’t get many screens upon its theatrical release. Neeraj himself was sharing lists of theatres and shows where his film was available in major cities. But when the director of the same film declares that he hasn’t watched anything this year in a theatre because he was “busy”, you wonder if they believe your time is disposable. It’s not like the audience members don’t have jobs that pay for those tickets, but they show up, largely, for the love of the movies.

Aamir Khan in a still from Sitare Zameen Par.

Is OTT the villain? Aamir Khan would say so!

Ever since the pandemic, streaming platforms in India have gone through an entire life cycle. From being the bright new hope that introduces new content to the audience and (almost) a blank cheque for film producers who needed saviours when the theatre economy was down, to then becoming algorithmic robots who churn similar content for viewers and string-pullers with deep pockets for the producers, the streaming culture has had many phases. For most of this year (or at least that’s what it felt like), one could only hear Aamir Khan talking about OTT platforms killing the theatre business. “Imagine I ask you to buy a glass from me, and if you don’t, I say I’ll drop it off at your place for free in eight weeks. You won’t buy it. That’s exactly what’s happening with films today,” he said with such confidence, and proudly announced that his film Sitaare Zameen Par wouldn’t stream on a digital platform (which was a bald-faced lie).

The audacity to imagine that OTT platforms are “free” is a misconception in itself. The monthly/annual subscription that’s debited from your account isn’t cheap; the devices at home are an investment, and even the internet costs some money. And if you are from a household that’s paying for cable television as well as 3-4 streaming platforms on multiple devices, you know you are spending a significant amount out of your entertainment budget on something that Aamir sees as “free”. You can still find value out of the money you pay here because there are various options to choose from, but when you spend a bomb on a much hyped theatrical experience, it’s a clear gamble; and the audience is willing to take that gamble time and again, but only if the movies are actually good.

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A few weeks after making some tall claims, Aamir dropped his film on YouTube, and hoped that the audience would pay to watch it (for every viewing). While the data on the same isn’t out, but one feels confident to say that if this were a success, Aamir’s never-ending press tour of the year would have gone on for longer, and he would have definitely boasted about this win (like he was talking about UPI, almost a decade after its wide acceptance).

This is just to say that it is not the audience watching the movies eight weeks after their release that’s killing the business; it is probably the ones who are making it who are so disconnected from the reality of the present-day movie-watching experience that they don’t even know what they’re selling anymore. They are so far removed from the idea of just going to the movies for the fun of it and watching films with different sets of characters – people who can’t stop talking in the middle of the movie, people who scroll through Instagram in a theatre and are directly in your eyeline, or those who come in with kids. These are the people who think of theatres in a fond, nostalgic way, and believe that it is on the paying audience, and not them, to keep them alive.

Is this why Hindi films are struggling?

For someone who is in the movie-making business, it feels like it is a part of their job to know what’s out there. Of course, there are geniuses who create masterpieces even as amateurs, but these should be treated as anomalies, and not as norms. If filmmakers and actors have no idea what’s out there, and are watching just 2 films in a full year, then how can one expect that they would be able to create a unique experience for their audience? At this point, visiting a theatre is a new experience for them! They aren’t obviously exposed to everything new that’s happening in the world of movies so how can the audience trust them to deliver on something actually unique versus something that they personally find distinctive?

Jr NTR and Hrithik Roshan in War 2.

This revelation of the filmmakers and actors’ community not stepping into the theatres to watch movies also makes you wonder if they have cocooned themselves in such small bubbles that they have no idea as to what’s happening with the rest of the world. Otherwise, what can explain a film like War 2, or even Thamma? These films were promoted with such enthusiasm that one wonders if the makers knew what they were doing. If they thought that this was good content, then the state of Indian movies is quite dire; but if they knew that what they were putting out was terrible, then why charge a bomb from your audience for a below-par product, whilst making them feel guilty for staying at home and attempting to watch your film when it’s available on streaming?

The conversation around cinema often boils down to box office figures and thanks to the producers of the movies, who once screamed from the rooftops when their film made Rs 100 crore (Aamir Khan again comes to mind here), the audience is now fully invested in how much money a film has made. This certainly does not change their opinion of the film, but in the long run, it will surely change how often they come back to the theatres. The 1980s already saw a demo of the same when the rise of home video combined with a severe fall in the quality of films had people staying away from the cinemas, until Sooraj Barjatya famously brought them back with Hum Aapke Hain Koun. The 2020s are the new 1980s, and the decade will not make a turnaround with a few propaganda hits. Good movies are the only way back, and the audience is doing their bit by watching whatever is thrown at them, but are the makers doing enough?