Has southern cinema fallen prey to Bollywood’s high ticket pricing?

According to media consulting firm Ormax, footfall in Telugu cinema declined to 181 million in 2025, from 213 million in 2024 and 242 million in 2023. This underscores a key imbalance: While the box office collection rose about 1% year-on-year, the growth was driven largely by higher average ticket prices (ATP), particularly for tentpole films, rather than increased admissions.

While some agree that southern audiences are averse to price hikes, others point out that the content is to blame as well.

“It is worrying that the box office may be at an all-time high but admissions are down, which means we’re pricing certain sections of the audience out of theatres,” Rahul Puri, managing director of Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas said.

Pricing plays a significant role in industries such as Tamil and Telugu, Puri added, and in case of films such as Pushpa 2: The Rule, where decisions on rates came from producers and distributors, it did impact footfall.

In the case of Pushpa 2, tickets priced over ₹1,200 in some multiplexes, including in home states Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, resulted in pan-India footfall of about 40 million. A comparable blockbuster, Baahubali 2, had clocked in admissions of over 60 million in 2017.

It’s more than pricing

Some industry experts caution against pinning the decline solely on pricing. A thinner release pipeline, delays in big-ticket films, and the weakening pull of mid-budget titles have also kept audiences away.

Tamil cinema offers a telling example. Despite operating under ticket price caps, footfall declined more than 15% to about 160 million in 2025, the lowest level since 2016, excluding the two pandemic-hit years. At ₹1,805 crore, the Tamil box office was largely flat, down 1% from 2024 and 8% from 2023.

Independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai said industries such as Telugu and Tamil are dependent on star-driven films, and either delays or underperformance can put undue pressure on other films to make up, which may not always be possible.

In the past few weeks, for example, while Vijay’s Jana Nayagan remains embroiled in certification delays, the box office of Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Akhanda 2: Thaandavam was a huge setback for the business. In Telugu cinema, 90% of the business is driven by star films and in Tamil, about 55–60%, Pillai added.

“Over the last few years, southern cinema has done exceptionally well with big, star-driven event films. That success pushed budgets and expectations up, but it also reduced the number of mid-sized, story-led films,” said Bhuvanesh Mendiratta, managing director of multiplex chain Miraj Entertainment Ltd.

Another important change is the frequency of big-star releases. “Earlier, leading southern stars were seen on screen more regularly. Today, much like what we’ve seen in Bollywood, many top southern actors are releasing films once every one or even two years,” said Bhuvanesh Mendiratta.

Some of the big stars are stepping away from films to enter politics, and some of them are taking longer gaps between projects, which has directly impacted the release pipeline, he added.

When the year is dominated by a handful of big films with long gaps in between, audiences step out mainly for those event titles. “Theatre visits slow down in the interim,” he added. Release bunching around big titles further affects consistency.

At the same time, higher average ticket prices have also become a concern, with many films releasing at blockbuster pricing. Together, these factors have made footfall consistency more challenging across the southern market, Mendiratta said.

“Today’s audience is very value-conscious. If the film doesn’t offer a strong theatrical experience, people tend to wait or give it a miss. So it’s not pricing alone that affects footfalls, but pricing without compelling content that makes audiences hesitant to step into theatres,” he agreed.