Theatres in Chennai mint money in 2005

If movie theatres in Chennai found the going tough in the past few years due to pirated film CDs and DVDs, 2005 has given the theatre owners something to cheer about.

A large number of medium budget films scored well at the box office and big budget movies like Chandramukhi and Anniyan became blockbusters, pulling the crowd back to theatres here.

Sv Rm Ramanathan, president of Chennai Exhibitors Association, told Business Standard that the revenue collection at theatres in the city during the last year recorded an all-time high in the past one decade.

It is estimated that movie theatres in the city rake in close to Rs 50 crore annually. Chennai has about 120 movie theatres, of which, only 40 theatres fall under the category 'A' and the remaining ones come under category 'B' and 'C'.

The average occupancy levels have improved to 55 per cent from 40 per cent. Compared to other metropolitan cities, movie tickets come cheaper in Chennai. However, ticket charges were increased by 10 per cent across all segments recently.

Ramanathan, managing director of Abirami Theatres, said that the significant reason behind the profitable run by theatres was the successful measures taken to check rampant video piracy.

The overall boom in the economy enables people to spend more on movies. Moreover, good movies with different themes were released during the year, and this also helped, he added.

Kiran Reddy, managing director, Sathyam Cinemas, which has six theatres with a combined seating capacity close to 3,000 seats, reiterates that though there are many reasons that contributed to the boom, the major one was the decline in video piracy.

Kaadhal and Ghajini, two medium budget films, did exceedingly well at the box office.

Tirupachi, Ullam Ketkumae, Raam, Arindum Ariyamalum, Englishkaran, Sivakasi and Maja also did reasonably well, while films like Kanda Naal Mudhal, Azhaghiya Theeye and Thavamai Thavam Irunthu brought family audiences back to movie theatres.