Hum Tum Director Kunal Kohli Advocates For Lower Ticket Prices To Increase Footfall: ‘It’s Never Too Late’

Hum Tum fame director Kunal Kohli recently voiced his opinion on the current state of cinema scenario. He took to his X handle and suggested that a reduction in ticket prices could boost footfall in theaters. The director believes that making cinema more affordable is a viable solution and it is never too late.

He wrote, “I have been saying this forever.  To maintain 100-200 then 300cr we kept raising ticket prices & Reducing footfalls. It’s never too late. Drop rates & see the magic.” As soon as he shared his opinion, many fans reacted. One of them wrote, “Point Sir… Halls are dead due to OTT… The same old A-list boring Actors, no scope for Cameo Actors. Reels are far better than watching these privileged narcissistic Actors. Waste of 5 hrs to and fro to the Halls. Dam gire ya uthe… Koi fark nahi padta.”

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Speaking to Indianexpress.com about how an actor’s entourage, including managers and agents, the director said, “Earlier, there used to be a joke on sets that the heroine’s mother has to say yes but today it is the actor’s crew, which has to say yes. The entourage has to say yes– which includes everyone, from the managers, agents, makeup men, hairdressers. That whole entourage has to first agree and then the actor (says yes). That’s the reason why.. Look at the films we are making, are we even surprised?”

Today, the filmmaker noted a major change: films now depend on actors’ approval, not just directors’ confidence. It’s a shift where actors decide what gets made, impacting budgets and production, unlike before when directors had more control over their projects. “That is a huge paradigm shift in the content that is being made. The actor is the deciding factor, whether you get the budget, get a producer or whether you get to make your film. It is all dependent on them, which wasn’t the case earlier, where the director would decide the kind of films he wanted to make, and he would make it,” he said. He added that today, regrettably, only a few directors can do that. For most, they have to wait for the actor’s approval, which can depend on various factors. “Maybe just a Sanjay Leela Bhansali, rest everyone else has to wait for that nod from the actor. That is also sometimes not just dependent on what you have done, what your past is but on multiple other factors. Their reference points are not Indian cinema,” he added.