by Laasya Dutta
Amid the entropy of the economic slowdown and a downward revision of GDP growth rate, Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s minister for communications and information technology, at a recent press conference said that the Indian economy was “sound.” He claimed that the films Joker, War, and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, together, sold tickets worth Rs120 crore on the 2nd of October, the highest single-day movie ticket sales ever.
While the enterprises ranging from automobile manufacturers to biscuit makers are facing a hammering thump because of the economic slowdown, the film industry appears to be sailing in the surge steadily.
“I think the slowdown is helping the cinema business. There is negativity around and people want to escape it.” said Kamal Gianchandani, Chief Executive Officer of PVR Cinemas.
Are box-office collections and economic plunge indeed correlated? Is this occurrence a passing reaction or a reverberating phenomenon?
At a first peek, it might not seem rational for one to shell out money into things that are not essential for a living, as they are an easy expense to cut when the times are shallow. Still and all, we are predictably irrational and it is the hidden forces such as emotions, expectations, contexts, social norms that cannot be measured, which play an important role in our financial decision making. Historical patterns suggest that one nonessential commodity – ‘Movies’ does surprisingly well during recessions.
The Great Depression:
During the Great Depression, in the 1930s, the film industry saw an immense amplification of viewer count with millions of people heading to the theatres each week as it was a therapeutic diversion for them to get away from their troubles. By providing this climacteric relief, the film industries in many western countries reached a vertex, at a time when most other industries were struggling intensely.
The 2008 Economic crisis:
Even in 2008, Bollywood had managed to resist the recession with the industry recording a 7.7 percent growth during that year. Despite being one of the worst years of the Great Recession, the number of movie tickets sold in the first quarter of 2009 increased by more than 9 percent from 2008 in the United States. One of the main reasons why movie theatres witnessed an upshot during the recession was because even with the increase in prices, tickets have remained below $10. Hence, people do not consider going to movies as more of an expense but as one of the few remaining affordable options for an escape.
“Generally, when economic downturns hit, we have seen an increase in box office and attendance in six of the eight last recessions,” said spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners Patrick Corcoran in an interview in 2011.
One extremely important reason for the success of the movie theatre business during recessions was the types of movies being released. Movies, specially comedies are proven to be beneficial for relieving anxiety and stress. During the Great Depression, though a variety of genres, it was the comedies and musicals that provided a key escape for the audience. There were several consistent threads in depression-era comedies, which elicited the public as they provided a space for them to laugh at the rich.
Watching movies requires much less exertion and engagement and it helps loosen up the tightness one experiences because of the stress. The audio-visual experience triggers a range of emotions in the mind, makes one feel appeased and in the company. During the 2008 Recession, Avatar amused a massive audience with its spectacular visuals. Feel-good movies such as Pixar’s Up and the hilarious Hangover added to the credence. After this rise, the box office collections plateaued eventually over the year.
Hence, one can expect the popcorn sales to heighten as the economy is sliding down the curve and the correlation explains that the desire for entertainment can overcome logical decision making.
References:
https://www.news18.com/news/politics/no-economic-crisis-as-three-movies-earned-rs-120-crore-on-releasing-day-union-minister-rs-prasads-bizarre-claim-2343371.html