Sholay, RHTDM, Gangs of Wasseypur; can old hits lure advertisers to the theatres?

A special screening of Sholay on August 31 drew quite a crowd. Maddy (R Madhavan) is making us fall in love again with the rerelease of Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Main (2001). Gangs Of Wasseypur 1 and 2 are playing on the big screen, and internet rumours say Veer-Zaara is the next big old hit to play at cinema theatres.

Old movies rereleasing on the big screens have more people talking about and watching them than the new ones; Stree 2 is an anomaly. It is an excellent strategy because it brings in footfalls and money and shows the terrific potency of nostalgia and love for watching cinema on the big screen.

When this article was first published in July 2024, it was after seeing a digital board at PVR’s Bandra Kurla theatre playing movies more than a decade old: Rockstar (2011), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), My Brother Nikhil (2005), and Lakshya (2004).

Such was the shortage of new movies then that barring Kalki 2989 AD and Deadpool and Wolverine, not many were able to guess which other movies were playing at theatres. So much so, Akshay Kumar starrer Sarfira, which hit theatres on July 12 had as per a Times of India report, “... sold nearly 2700 tickets (advance booking) for its over 800 shows, and has earned just about Rs 4.8 lakh.”

Seeing the lack of consistent movie supply this year, it was not surprising to see movie theatres screen old hits. An afaqs! colleague who watched Rockstar at one of the PVR theatres in Mumbai said the 10.30 pm show was a near houseful.

The FICCI-EY report, released in March 2024, said Rs 750 crore was generated from cinema advertising in 2023, a 50% rise attributed to successful movies and the scarcity of avenues to reach affluent audiences.

Seeing the dry run, it was hard to imagine brands choose this advertising medium. However, one cannot help but wonder if brands will consider advertising, as crowds return to theaters to watch an old hit once more or catch it for the first time, because they missed seeing Ranbir Kapoor strum his guitar and sing Sadda Haq thirteen years ago; nostalgia is a great seducer.

We posed this thought to a few marketers and a media expert.

Edited excerpts (List in alphabetical order of first name)

Aditya Modak, COO and CFO, P N Gadgil & Sons, a Maharashtra-based jewellery brand

We are very interested in showcasing PNGS ads in theatres, especially when old hits are playing again on the big screens. Old hit movies have a proven track record of attracting large audiences.

People love revisiting their favourite classics, which means a guaranteed turnout. The primary goal of advertising is to capture as many eyeballs as possible, and with old hit movies, there's a certainty that they will attract a significant number of viewers. This is more predictable than new releases with uncertain audience numbers.

Theaters are a fantastic medium for maximum exposure. The immersive experience of watching a movie in a theater, with its large screen and superior sound system, ensures that advertisements have a strong impact.

People are more likely to pay attention to ads in this setting than other mediums. Advertising while screening a popular old movie ensures that the investment is worthwhile.

Aman Gupta, co-founder and CMO, boAt

We don’t anticipate an increase in investment in cinema advertising. For us, media buying for cinema depends on the product offering (the medium is the message) and the movie releases during those weeks (high-impact films that cut across languages). The plan for cinema advertising is always based on specific objectives.

Theatre experiences will continue to thrive for movies that require a theatrical setting to appreciate their stories fully. With the proliferation of IMAX and 3D theatres, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, movies offer a great way to plan a day out.

For the launch of our latest Airdopes 800, featuring Dolby-powered sound, we chose cinema advertising. There’s no better way to showcase cinematic audio than in a theatre, creating top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) for Dolby earbuds. While the releases at that time weren’t major blockbusters, the cost-effectiveness of the shows and the audience’s undivided attention made it a worthwhile investment.

The upcoming lineup, with futuristic movies like Kalki 2989 AD that transcend language barriers, presents a great opportunity for technology brands to advertise to a diverse audience.

Karan Taurani, SVP, Elara Capital

Ad revenue per screen is still about 25-30% lower compared to pre-covid levels and it is because there is no recovery in annual advertising budgets, which is due to a lack of supply of consistent content.

Before Covid, you had two types of budgets. One was the annual advertising budget where slots were bought on a lump sum for the entire year regardless of which movie played. The other was spot pricing whenever a blockbuster movie played, it was three, or four, or even five times higher than the annual offering. It was to hedge advertisers who would want to advertise only on high-impact films.

Ad revenue will see a positive impact only when the content is impactful. Unless we do not have them, you will not see films doing well on consumption data and ad revenues will not see a positive impact.

I don't think these nostalgic films do any good in terms of driving ad revenue. They are mere promotion initiatives to drive footfalls, occupancy, and food and beverage (F&B) spends because if a person goes inside a cinema for two, or three hours, the person will end up purchasing something and F&B is high margin in nature.

Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head, marketing, Parle Products

Last year, it was the ODI World Cup being played in India during the festive (October-November 2023). This year, the first four months, with the onslaught of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the T20 World Cup, have been challenging for the overall movie industry, not just Bollywood.

Resultantly, cinema houses have found an opportunity to screen old hit titles for which there is, obviously, a potential for new audiences. But it does not really impact or help me as an advertiser because we (advertisers) are typically looking at new titles.

Also, what happens is, that even if Rockstar or Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is being played, it will not play across all the screens. So, it's pick and choose and it becomes extremely challenging to plan something.

But something like Kalki 2989 AD or Pushpa 2 becomes easier to plan. You say, ‘OK, boss, this is almost a pan-India release or at least Hindi Speaking Markets (HSM) release. So, it becomes easier.’

It is, however, an opportunity for local advertisers provided the cinemas reach out to them in time. And then there are a few advertisers like Vicco, Manyavar, or Lux, who book cinemas for 13 weeks, 26 weeks, or 52 weeks regardless of the titles. It works out well for them.

Shubhranshu Singh, global chief marketing officer, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles

I think cinema has a very important role to play, especially in terms of appointment audiences. The fact that you mentioned that if there is no hit, then what happens to that investment, that is a risk we entertain and go in with.

Having said that, there is a cultural habit of going to cinemas, and as you are yourself saying, if reruns of movies are also getting full houses, then I would very much like to run new ads with old movies, no problem.

However, I don't think we should exclusively rely on only Hindi cinema box office performances. There is a flourishing cinema culture across the country, whether it is Bengali, whether it is Bhojpuri, whether it is Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, or Kannada, the concentration of cinema halls, especially independent screens, much higher in the south.

So, we are making that investment, and we are confident that both from a continuity point of view and an economics point of view, it works out very well for us.

Is Tata Motors investing in the South cinema? We do cinema advertising from time to time across the country, especially around new launches. And now? I think we are.