14.6 Cr (145.7 Million) Indians watched at least one film in a theatre in 2019, reveals Ormax Media’s report ‘Sizing The Cinema’

MUMBAI: Media consulting firm Ormax Media released its research report titled Sizing The Cinema: An Ormax Media Report on India’s Theatrical Audience Reach. The report, based on a survey of 5,600 Indians in Urban & Rural India, is India’s first definitive study to size the theatrical audience universe in India. The data for the survey was collected in Jan-Mar 2020, before the lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per the report, 14.6 Cr (145.7 Million) Indians went to a theatre to watch a film at least once in 2019. India’s theatrical reach is, hence, 10.5% of its population. These 14.6 Cr audience contributed to 103.0 Cr theatrical footfalls in 2019, i.e., an average of 7.1 films per capita (across languages).

Other highlights:

58% of the theatrical reach comes from Urban India. Rural India accounts for 69% of India’s population but only 42% of India’s theatrical audience, because of lower theatrical penetration.

52% male population of India contributes 61% to the theatrical universe. Median age of a theatre-goer in India is 27.5 years.

South India is easily the most-penetrated zone, with 22% of the population having visited a theatre in 2019. As a result, it contributes 44% to the theatrical universe, more than twice its contribution to India’s population at 21%. 

Hindi (51%), Telugu (21%), Tamil (19%) and Hollywood (15% including dubbed versions) are the top 4 languages in which films are watched in theatres in India.

An average Indian theatre-goer watches films in 1.4 languages, with Kerala (1.7) and Maharashtra (1.6) showing the highest multi-language incidence.

Commenting on the report and its findings, Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO - Ormax Media said: “The quality of data available on Indian theatrical audience is very poor. At 14.6 Cr, India’s theatrical universe is sizeable enough to deserve better quality of data. In a diverse and multi-lingual country like ours, absence of such data can be significant limiting factors for studios and independent producers when they are planning their content & marketing strategies. This study focuses on understanding the demographic of the Indian theatre-goer, as well as mapping language duplication across various states in India, among other things. We believe it will help various stakeholders in the theatrical business take more informed decisions.”