🎬 Bollywood's Big Reveal: Aamir Khan Drops Truth Bomb at WAVES 2025! 🎤
- MediaFx
- May 2
- 2 min read
TL;DR: At the WAVES 2025 Summit, Aamir Khan highlighted the critical issues plaguing Bollywood: a severe shortage of cinema screens and a flawed business model that favors OTT releases over theatrical experiences. He emphasized that even blockbuster films reach only 2% of India's population due to limited theater access and rapid OTT availability, urging for infrastructural investments to revive the industry.
🎥 Aamir Khan's Wake-Up Call at WAVES 2025
At the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai, Bollywood's Mr. Perfectionist, Aamir Khan, didn't hold back. He spotlighted a pressing concern: the dwindling fortunes of Bollywood films.
"India, with over 1.4 billion people, has just around 10,000 movie theatres," Aamir pointed out. "The US, with only a third of our population, has 40,000. China? A whopping 90,000. We’re not even in the same league."
He further emphasized that even the biggest Bollywood hits rarely cross a theatrical footfall of three crore people, which is just 2% of the population. "In a country that lives and breathes cinema, that’s a shockingly low number," he remarked.
🏗️ The Infrastructure Gap
Aamir stressed the need for urgent investments in building more theatres, especially in small towns and rural districts. "There are vast regions in India where people have to travel hours to find a single theatre — or they just miss out altogether," he said. "If we’re serious about growing our film industry and creating jobs, we need to treat theatres the same way we treat roads, railways, or schools. They’re cultural infrastructure."
📉 The OTT Conundrum
Another critical issue Aamir highlighted was the shrinking window between theatrical releases and OTT platforms. "Earlier, films would come in theatres and a year later it would be on satellite. Then it came down to 8 months, 6 months," he explained. "Now, with an 8-week window, audiences might just wait to watch it at home. It’s a funny business model."
🎤 Shah Rukh Khan's Perspective
Joining the conversation, Shah Rukh Khan echoed similar concerns. He proposed building simpler, cheaper theatres in smaller towns to increase accessibility and viewership. "We need more theatres—simpler and cheaper ones—especially in smaller towns and cities," he said. "Otherwise, it's becoming very expensive, only in big towns."
📊 The Bigger Picture
Ajay Bijli, founder of PVR Inox, added that the global box office dropped from $42 billion pre-COVID to $32 billion. In India, with 40 lakh cinema seats, the 2024 occupancy was just 16%. "Only 88 crore people watched films," he noted, highlighting the massive fall post-COVID.
MediaFx Opinion 🛠️
From a working-class and socialist perspective, the issues raised by Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan underscore the need for equitable access to cultural infrastructure. The concentration of theatres in urban areas marginalizes rural populations, depriving them of shared cinematic experiences. Investing in affordable theatres across all regions not only democratizes entertainment but also creates jobs and stimulates local economies. It's imperative that the government and private sector collaborate to bridge this infrastructural gap, ensuring that cinema remains a unifying cultural force accessible to all.
