Aamir Khan has for the last 15 years been toying with a question: How can 97 to 98 percent of Indians watch a movie???
This speculation was born out of the realization that even the biggest superhit film was watched only by an estimated two or three percent of the country’s population in theatres, as per statistics regarding footfalls! The principal reason for this was that India has only around 9000 movie theatres. The US, with one-third of India’s populace, has 35,000 movie halls, while China has around 90,000 screens!
“I was thinking of how this problem can be tackled, even as every 10 years, we had a threat like TV, video, cable, VCD, DVD and finally the web and OTT,” said Aamir Khan at a special press conference held on July 29 at the Hotel Taj Land’s End. “How do movies reach each and every one? I thought of many ideas, but none were working. There was no solution in sight, until our government brought in UPI or digital payment.”
The other big change was the Internet penetration, and now India ranks highest in digital payments in the world. And so, Aamir knew that if we had a digital platform that was used by all, there was a way out. “Around 5.5 billion Indians visit YouTube daily! And YouTube is there all over the world,” he said.
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And so, Aamir collaborated with YouTube and worked out a model. Like Free Model and Subscription Models, he went in a Pay-Per-View model. The average Indian cannot watch a film usually because there is a screen only far away.
This Video on Demand gives full freedom to choose where and when and with whom we can watch any film. “Covid has also shown that the way people want to watch a movie has changed, our lives have changed and I can order eats, clothes, shoes, medicines or anything else on phone, and there is a decline in theatrical footfalls. This is not just in India but also globally,” said Aamir. “I hope that this small effort will open new doors for us.”
Aamir also added that over half the number of films being made do not get screens. Young talents cannot break through with good content because of a paucity of platforms and market forces. This means of exhibition can also be an outlet for such creative talent, he noted.
Beginning August 1, his own productions (and that of his father, filmmaker Tahir Husain) will be successively screened on his YouTube platform called Aamir Khan Talkies. “It will begin with Sitaare Zameen Par, which must have been watched by about 1 crore people, and I think that every Indian must be able to see my film, if he wants to watch it. The cost for India will be Rs. 100, which is highly affordable. And for a family of 4, it works out to be Rs. 25 a head, and if it is a larger group, like how we would watch a movie at someone’s house on TV in the olden days, even less! The cost will be proportionate outside India.”
Once paid for, the movie will be with the payer for 30 days, but once its screening is started, it has to be watched within 48 hours.
Gunjan Soni, Country Managing Director for India, YouTube, was also present. She added, “This is blockbuster news from Aamir! I am very excited, proud and honored to be a part of this democratization of movie-watching. Aamir’s mission is aligned with ours, and this is about a new direction for Indian cinema and not just for one film. YouTube is also a place where families come together and we want to roll out the red carpet for Indian cinema to go to the world with confidence and full control.”
Aamir admitted that he lied to the media about the post-theatrical release of his latest film because this plan had been set in motion. He also added that theatrical viewing (which is also the pay per view model) will always be priority.
The difference between OTT platforms and Aamir Khan Talkies, he stressed, was that the moneys paid this time would be for watching a specific movie that you wanted to watch, unlike the OTT’s subscription model where you watched whatever films had been bought by the platform. He added that if anyone else even among established banners would want to screen their films on Aamir Khan Talkies, they would be welcomed.
Aamir admitted that this was unchartered terrain and he would not know whether five people would watch a movie or 50,000-plus would! “Columbus set out to discover India but discovered America!” he signed off.