No, please don't bring your own popcorn. Why cinema viewers bringing their own snacks will only leave a bad taste
Loud cheers in favour of the decision of the Maharastra government to allow outside food inside movie theatres have saved the state government from some major embarrassments.
One, the state government was asked to take steps to regulate food pricing inside the theatres. It did nothing and, last checked, it is still formulating some 'policy'.
Two, a state which is home to the biggest entertainment industry of the country can’t afford to turn a blind eye to the revenue models of the multiplexes. But the Maharashtra government did and that too amid cheers and claps.
The down-memory-lane trip of teary-eyed cine-goers, to the time when popcorn used to come at Rs 10 or less, however, was not free. It came at a heavy price. Soon after it was announced that outside food will be allowed in movie theatres from August, shares of PVR Limited and Inox Leisure dropped. The very reason why single screen theatres had to be shut down was suddenly being brought back. All in the name of ghar ka khana (actually, bahar ka khana), which otherwise one will vehemently refuse, but not during those three-hours spent inside a movie theatre.
What all falls under this category “outside food” is still quite unclear.
Let’s put aside the revenue loss of the multiplexes for a moment.
Does 'outside food' refer to a bottle of water and a packet of biscuits on condition that any litter is dumped properly? Or, does it give free flow to tiffin boxes, of various sizes, inside the theatre? So, does this mean that the cine-goers who might have preferred silence and privacy to an onrush of home-cooked food now will have to squeeze themselves to make room for hollering crowd-sharing, and maybe generous spilling, of food?
Also, how long will the security check process now take?
Won’t cleaning the auditorium after one show now become a mammoth task? Won’t that escalate maintenance costs - and also ticket prices?
If movie enthusiasts are ready to adulterate their movie-watching experience by all these, then why bother visiting a theatre? Just asking.
Jainendra Baxi who is associated with the entertainment industry filed a PIL through lawyer Aditya Pratap in 2017, claiming that there was no legal provision prohibiting one from carrying a water bottle and food items inside movie theatres. According to the PIL, this was uncomfortable, especially for old and ailing people.
The issue is real, and it could have been solved but without biting into the revenue model of the multiplexes.
But that might not have made the Maharashtra government the hero it is now.
During the proceeding, the Maharashtra Cinemas (Regulation) Rules, which includes a provision to prohibiting hawking and selling food inside theatres, were invoked.
So, a multiplex selling its space to outside vendors, which in turn is creating employment for another few, is equal to a stray person entering an auditorium during the interval to sell his product? Do both fall under hawking?
Food and beverage is one of the three revenue streams for a multiplex, the other two being box office collections and advertising. According to the annual report for 2016-17 of PVR Ltd, about 27 per cent of its revenue came from food and beverage sales.
One may not want to contribute to the coffers of the multiplexes since the ticket price is quite high in any case. Bingeing on high-priced popcorn inside a theatre is absolutely optional.
But the damage is already done.
As a domino impact of the decision, the same demand will be raised elsewhere. According to reports, the Karnataka government will watch the developments of Maharashtra and may go for this as well in the near future.
It’s indeed good news for movie watchers.
But is a state government justified in rewriting ease-of-doing business by choosing such a the-end-type decision?