Exhibitor Slams Aamir Khan Over 'India Needs Better Theatrical Infrastructure' Comment: "Cute Theoretical Jargon"

The debate around the number of cinema screens in India has intensified after Aamir Khan said the "country needs far more theatres" to compete with China.

What's Happening

• In an interview with Variety India, Aamir Khan spoke about the structural limitations of the Indian exhibition sector, arguing that India's screen count is far too small for a country of its size and diversity.
• "India's a huge country; it's like a continent, it's massive and each state has its own language, its own culture, its own films. So, I really feel that in a country like India, we need many more cinema halls. More outlets, so that we can reach a lot more people. If you want to compete with China, for example, they have, I think, one lakh screens," explained Aamir.
• "We are at 9,000 screens. What is the comparison? We are one-tenth their size in outlets. Which is why one big film when in China does huge business; it does two billion US dollars. Just in China, not in the rest of the world. Just in China, big films do that kind of business. The big films over there do business worth billions of dollars. I am talking of US dollars. So, when we increase our number of screens, you'll see the business expand at the grassroots level. The base of your pyramid will go wide," the Sitaare Zameen Par star emphasised.
• Referring to Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar, currently Bollywood's highest-grossing film, Aamir questioned how much bigger the film's collections could have been with a wider release.
• "Let's take the example of Dhurandhar, which has done around Rs 1,000 crore. Now, imagine if it had been released in not 5,000 screens but in 15,000 screens. Massive! So, this is what I'm trying to say. The real change will come when the number of screens goes up. Because there are so many districts in India right now that don't have a single screen," said Khan.

What Did The Theatre Exhibitor Say?

However, Aamir's remarks have drawn a sharp response from theatre exhibitors and distributors, with one statement in particular going viral on social media.

Distributor Akkshay Rathie said, "With due respect, Mr @AKPPL_Official, which is the last film you made, which warranted a release in each of the 9000 + screens in India? Or even in the 4500 odd screens in the Hindi speaking markets? Happy Patel, Laapata Ladies, Sitaare Zameen Par etc have had very limited metro focussed releases & been completely irrelevant for the long tail of the existent exhibition sector."

He added, "Trust me when I say this, sir - Indian business entities are enterprising enough to build the infrastructure you're talking about in record time, but the fuel for it is content that finds appeal with the grassroots of our markets, being made & released with some consistency. You spoke about Dhurandhar & its potential business if it had released in a hypothetical 15000 screens. How many films in an year do the kind of numbers that Dhurandhar did? Or have as wide a geographical impact in terms of footfalls in cities, towns & villages that have a cinema hall today? Can cinemas, which require crores of rupees in capex to be built & have high operating costs be made and maintained for 3-4 such films in an year which create significant impact on the P&L?"

He shared, "What you've said is cute theoretical jargon, given the kind of content that is being dished out. As an exhibitor, I assure you, my fraternity will leave no stone unturned in building more screens, if content creators like you can start making films that find appeal beyond urban India, which is already super saturated with screens. I promise, I respect you from the bottom of my heart for the amazing films you've made back in the day, many of which continue to be my all time favourites."

"However, this statement needed to be called out, because it has been stated and repeated illogically over the years. Yes, we need thousands of more screens, but before that, we need films that can enable them to be built! Hope to see you play your part in it. We'll definitely do our bit. Best wishes for Ek Din, Lahore 1947 & whatever you choose to make next," Rathie concluded.