Karan Johar on inflated food cost at cinema halls: A movie outing costs Rs 10,000

Film directors Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar recently reflected upon the exorbitant cost of watching films in a movie theatre. Karan highlighted that a family of four has to shell out Rs 10,000 on one movie outing, and this expenditure might not be part of that family’s economic planning. The filmmaker underlined the issue of “crazy” food prices at cinema halls.
“People can’t afford to go to the cinema. They want to go to the cinema. If you’re going to go twice, you’re going to choose which films you want to see. Even if I want to go see Laapataa Ladies, maybe I can’t afford to,” Zoya pointed out during a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India. Karan shared insights from a survey he read and said, “They went to 100 homes, and out of those 100 homes, 90 said they would watch only two films a year (in theatres).”
Karan added, “This is of an income group that is a massive part of our audience base. They can’t afford it. They may come out on Diwali, or if they hear about a film like Stree 2. Family members said that they don’t like to go to cinema halls because when kids say that they want popcorn or something to eat, they feel bad denying them. So they would rather go to a restaurant, where they’re not paying for the ticket; they’re paying only for the food. They said, ‘Our child will point and say he wants caramel popcorn, but we can’t afford it.’ Because the average cost for a family of four can be Rs 10,000. And maybe those Rs 10,000 are not in their economic planning at all.”
In 2023, tickets for Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan were selling for as high as Rs 2,400 on the ticket aggregator website BookMyShow, while tickets for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer were sold at Rs 2,450.