The business model of Hindi films is flawed: Aamir Khan

Hindustan Times

03-05-2025

MUMBAI: The popularity of streaming platforms, which peaked during the Covid-19 pandemic, and its impact on the movie business has been a growing concern among filmmakers, producers and distributors in recent times. On Friday, actor-producer Aamir Khan argued that the current business model of Bollywood films 'does not make sense, irrespective of the quality of films being made'.
'It's a very faulty business model,' said Khan, speaking at a session on 'Studios of the Future: Putting India on the World Studio Map' held during the ongoing World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai. Khan called attention to the shrinking window between theatrical release of films and their OTT debut, which he said was killing their box office collections as viewers had to wait for only a short time to watch a film at home. It's an argument that Khan has been making on several forums lately.
'It's a funny discussion why films aren't doing well. That's because we are telling people not to come to theatres. I have nothing against OTT. But the window is too small and you are killing your own business. It's like saying if you don't come and buy from me, I will drop it free at your home after eight weeks,' he said.
Ajay Bijli, managing director, PVR Inox Ltd, who was part of the panel discussion agreed. 'There's a need to handle the journey of a film better. It should first be monetized in theatres, then released on pay-per-view and then go to subscription-based OTT platforms,' he said. 'Today, a film becomes free immediately after eight weeks.'
However, he added, OTTs have cutting edge content and give global exposure to films which is an advantage.
With changing viewer habits, the world's box office collections have dropped to $32 billion currently from a high of $40 billion pre-Covid, Bijli said. In India, the average occupancy levels in theatres were 32% pre-Covid which has now dropped to 16%, he added. 'Consistency of content is also important. You cannot have a feast and a famine situation,' he said referring to a few films being smash hits and the rest tanking at the box office.
Hollywood producer Charles Roven, known for 'The Dark Knight' trilogy and 'Oppenheimer', was also part of the panel that included producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Dinesh Vijan. He observed that Indian films were made only for the domestic market. 'Your business is so inside India. You should be looking at the world,' said Roven, urging Indian producers to risk going global. 'Everything that I do starts with the intention that I will show it around the world,' he said.
Vijan underscored the need for capital infusion and global distribution in the Hindi film industry. 'To go global, we need distribution. If content is king, distribution is god,' he said.
Rovan pointed out that people predicted the death of theatres when TV came, and likewise with DVDs and now streaming. 'You cannot replicate the movie theatre business – that is if you make movies that people want to see as a group,' he said.
Khan also stressed the need for more theatres in India. While China boasts of 90,000 theatres screens, USA has 40,000 and India 10,000, he said. 'Only 2% of the population watches the biggest hits in theatres. We need theatres of all kinds. How will we realise the potential if there is no point of sales,' he said.
When the moderator of the session, film critic Mayank Shekhar, asked how the government can help, Khan said in his 35 years in films he has never seen any government step up for the industry. 'No government has wanted to make the film business powerful. This is the first time a government is showing interest; and a dialogue has started. It will translate into policies and can impact the future of the film business.'