“Cinema is becoming unaffordable!” - Supreme Court slams multiplex rates!

The Indian Supreme Court has expressed serious concerns about the exorbitant costs of food and drink in multiplexes, claiming that such unregulated prices may deter people from going to the theater. Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta urged movie theater chains to lower the cost of moviegoing , calling prices such as ₹700 for coffee and ₹100 for bottled water "unreasonable." The comments were made in the midst of a legal challenge to the Karnataka government's decision to set a ₹200 ticket price cap in an effort to increase moviegoing accessibility.

The Court disagreed, stressing that cinema is a mass medium and must remain within the means of the average citizen, despite multiplex owners' arguments that pricing should remain a matter of consumer choice, comparing it to luxury hotels where coffee costs ₹1,000. With Justice Nath complaining that "there are no normal cinemas left," the debate also brought attention to the widening gap between multiplex prices and middle-class consumers' purchasing power.

A 2023 CII survey revealed that a typical multiplex outing costs around ₹1,800 per person, making it unaffordable for many families. Footfalls have dropped by 15% since the pandemic, as audiences shift toward OTT platforms and smaller theatres. The Supreme Court’s observations have reignited discussions on whether multiplexes must rethink their pricing strategy to reconnect with the broader audience and revive the theatre-going culture.