A Bengaluru court recently ordered PVR Cinemas to pay damages for delaying the start of a movie, sparking debate on how cinemas, in their quest to increase profits, could be taking their customers’ time for granted
Sunil Baghel & Bhavika Jain | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; February 25, 2025)
The Bangalore (Urban) District Consumer Commission, in a first-of-its-kind order, has directed PVR Cinemas, Bangalore, and its parent company, PVR Inox, to pay Rs. 1.28 lakh as penalty to a patron who had complained he was made to sit through half-an-hour of advertisements before the movie he had gone to watch was screened.
The order requires the cinema hall chain to deposit Rs. 1 lakh into a consumer welfare fund and pay Rs. 20,000 to the complainant, Abhishek M R, for the inconvenience and mental agony caused, along with Rs. 8,000 for his legal expenses.
The court also instructed the cinema chain to clearly state the actual start time of movies on tickets and avoid similar delays in the future.
What was the complaint?
On January 6, 2024, Abhishek filed a complaint about the screening of Sam Bahadur (2023), a Bollywood biopic based on the life of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.
Abhishek had booked three tickets for the 4.05 pm show at PVR Cinemas in Orion Mall, Bengaluru for Rs. 825.66. Expecting the movie to run for 2 hours and 25 minutes, he planned his evening accordingly, assuming the show would end by 6.30 pm. However, Abhishek and his family sat through nearly 30 minutes of advertisements, trailers and promotional content, and the film began at 4.30 pm.
He documented the delay in a video recording, arguing that the prolonged pre-show advertisements disrupted his schedule and constituted an unfair trade practice.
What PVR said in its defence
PVR Cinemas argued that recording a video inside a theatre is illegal as it amounts to piracy, and that that made the complainant’s evidence inadmissible.
It also said theatres are legally required to screen government-mandated public service announcements (PSAs), like anti-tobacco ads, which are typically played when the attendance in the hall is at its peak.
Government guidelines, however, specify that PSAs should not exceed 10 minutes before the film starts.
The theatre chain argued that the movie’s actual runtime was 2 hours and 30 minutes, not 2 hours and 25 minutes as submitted by the complainant. It also said that audience movement and security checks can cause minor variations in movie start times.
What the court ruled
The Consumer Commission dismissed PVR’s arguments and admitted the complainant’s video evidence, noting that it did not record the actual movie screening.
The court found that while two of the advertisements shown were government-mandated PSAs, 95% of the pre-show content was commercial.
The court also said that movie screenings must begin precisely at the time printed on the ticket and recommended that theatres limit commercial ads and PSAs to the intermission period.
“Theatres cannot extend a viewer’s stay for commercial gain. Time is an economic asset, and misleading showtimes inconvenience moviegoers,” the ruling said.
How cinema halls earn
Movie theatres generate revenue through three primary streams, with box office collections being the most obvious one.
In 2023, theatrical revenue hit an all-time high of Rs. 11,200 crore, with over 1,796 films making their way to the big screen, according to Ernst & Young’s (EY) March 2024 report.
But, every time a ticket is sold, a portion of that money is split between the film’s distributor, the exhibitor (the theatre), and the government in the form of taxes.
After these deductions, the cinema owner is left with a fraction of the total ticket price. That’s where the other two revenue streams come in.
Food and beverage sales inside theatres, exorbitantly priced in most cases, is a lucrative revenue stream. A pack of popcorn, available for around Rs. 20 outside, can cost you Rs. 300 in a multiplex. This is why cinemas don’t allow moviegoers to carry any food, or even water, into the theatre. The other crucial revenue stream of course is advertising.
So, how much do cinema halls make from ads? According to an EY 2024 report, cinema halls in India earned Rs. 750 crore from in-cinema advertising in 2023. This revenue stream is likely to grow to Rs. 1,000 crore by 2026, driven by factors such as rising discretionary spends, an increase in high-quality mass content, and advancements in pricing strategies and infrastructure.
Is there a fixed limit to how many ads can play before a film?
There is no regulation limiting the duration of pre-show advertisements. The number of ads shown before a movie can vary based on factors such as the film’s popularity, the time of day, and the day of the week.
“Weekdays generally have fewer ads compared to weekends,” said Nitin Datar, president of the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association, adding that advertising agreements are typically made in advance and often span a year.
Big films like Pushpa 2, said Girish Wankhede, head of business strategy at Cineport Cinemas, pull in more advertising, and what is planned as a 10-12 minutes of ad slot often extends to 20-25 minutes.
Are cinema halls struggling?
In October 2024, PVR Inox, India’s largest multiplex chain, reported a consolidated net loss of Rs. 11.8 crore for the September quarter, a stark contrast to the Rs. 166 crore profit for the previous year.
This downturn, according to a Reuters report, was attributed to a 19% fall in total revenue, with movie ticket sales plummeting by 25% and food and beverage sales decreasing by 18%.
However, there are signs of resilience. In February 2025, PVR Inox reported a threefold increase in its third-quarter profit, driven by a strong line-up of new films during the festive period like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, Singham Again, and Pushpa 2.
Pushpa 2 alone accounted for 36% of box office collections in the quarter, marking it one of the biggest blockbusters in Indian cinema history.
So, what next for cinema halls?
The Bengaluru court’s ruling against PVR Cinemas could set a precedent, pushing theatres to be more transparent about movie start times and reconsider ad durations. However, PVR is expected to challenge the ruling.
If more consumers complain, cinema halls may have to disclose ad durations upfront or limit them. Since advertising is a major revenue source, theatres might explore shifting ads to intermissions or offering ad-free premium screenings.
Research by Rajesh Sharma