Film directors Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar recently reflected on the exorbitant cost of watching a film in a cinema hall. Karan highlighted that a family of four has to spend Rs 10,000 to watch a film, and this expense cannot be a part of that family’s financial plan. The filmmaker also highlighted the issue of “insane” food prices in cinema halls.

“People can’t afford to go to the cinema. They want to go to the cinema. If you’re going twice, you’ll choose which film you want to watch. Even if I wanted to watch Missing Ladies, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it,” Zoya told The Hollywood Reporter India. Karan shared information from a survey and said, “They went to 100 households, and out of those 100 households, 90 said they would only watch two films (in theatres) a year.”

Karan added, “This is an income group that is a large part of our audience. They can’t afford it. They may come out on Diwali, or hear about a film like Stree 2. Family members said they don’t like going to a cinema hall because they feel bad saying no when kids say they want popcorn or something. So they prefer going to a restaurant where they don’t pay for the ticket; they just pay for the food. They said, ‘Our kid will point and say he wants caramel popcorn, but we can’t afford it.’ Because the average cost for a family of four could be Rs 10,000. And those Rs 10,000 might not be in their financial plan at all.”

In 2023, tickets for Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawaan were selling for up to Rs 2,400 on ticket aggregator website BookMyShow, while tickets for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer were sold for Rs 2,450.