Vishek Chauhan's book "Cinemas Forever" features some surprising facts.
Before OTT platforms changed the game, the movie "3 Idiots" sold 75,000 to 80,000 VCDs and DVDs, bringing in around Rs. 3 to 4 crores. Also, America sells more movie tickets than its population, while India sells just 90 crores annually.
One of the most surprising parts of the book details the golden age of movie going in the United States.
In 1947, there were as many as 18,000 theatres in the US. At that time, watching movies was not just a form of entertainment; it was one of the biggest retail businesses in the country, right after groceries and cars.
The number of people going to the movies was huge.
About 90 million Americans, nearly 60% of the population, went to the movies every week. The US box office reached its highest point in 1947, with 4.7 billion tickets sold in a single year.
But the same year also marked the start of a big change.
In 1947, around 1 million households in the US had a TV. By 1950, this number rose to 4 million. By 1954, it was 26 million, and by 1962, there were 55 million TVs in the country, reaching over 90% of households.
This change hit theatres hard.
The US box office revenue dropped from $1.72 billion in 1946 to $1.4 billion in 1950, $1.1 billion in 1955 and $927 million by 1962. Ticket sales also fell sharply, from 4.7 billion in 1947 to 3.02 billion in 1950, 2.2 billion in 1955 and barely 1 billion by 1970. In just 23 years, US theatrical admissions dropped by 75%.
The number of people going to the movies every week also dropped a lot, from 90 million in 1947 to 46 million in 1955 and just 17 million by 1970.
However, as "Cinemas Forever" shows, each major change also pushed the movie exhibition business to adapt and change. One major change was the multiplex. Stanley Durwood, the man behind AMC, started the first widely known multiplex in 1963 in Kansas City, Missouri. Interestingly, Sumner Redstone of National Amusements is said to have come up with the word "multiplex."
The multiplex changed the way theatres operated.
It allowed exhibitors to show multiple movies at once, make better use of space, and provide audiences with more choices. Many years later, the multiplex model also brought big changes to urban India, especially after the country opened up economically. But Vishek Chauhan's book also points out something important: India's future cannot depend only on luxury multiplexes.
India, despite having a large population of 1.4 billion, sells close to 90 crore movie tickets every year.
By comparison, the United States in 2024 sold around 2.5 times its population in movie tickets — more than 800 million tickets on a population of about 340 million. If India were to reach even a similar level of movie watching per person, the country could sell at least 350 crore tickets annually — nearly four times the current rate.
Vishek Chauhan's book "Cinemas Forever" reveals interesting facts — Before OTT platforms changed the game, 3 Idiots sold 75,000 to 80,000 VCDs and DVDs, generating Rs. 3 to 4 crores.
America sells more movie tickets than its population; India sells just 90 crore tickets annually.
Vishek Chauhan explains that the issue isn't that people don't love cinema.
The problem is access. India has about 9,700 screens. The US has around 42,000 screens. China, with a population similar to India's, has nearly 81,000 screens. Even South Korea, a country of only 52 million people, has more than 2,700 screens. These numbers show that India's lack of screens is a big issue.
Vishek Chauhan suggests, "The industry needs to make a big change quickly.
The future cannot rely only on luxury multiplex chains. India needs another 20,000 to 30,000 theatres. Especially affordable and community-based cinemas that can bring back audiences in small towns, tier-3 cities and rural areas. These new-age value cinemas don't need to copy the luxury model of PVR and Inox. They should focus on making films accessible, cost-effective and widely available. The key should be low operating costs, smart digital distribution, efficient staffing and tiered ticket pricing that helps people from all backgrounds return to the cinema experience."
The book also gives useful background on India's own exhibition growth.
By 1950, India had 2,394 permanent theatres and another 844 temporary ones, totaling 3,348 theatres nationwide. By 1971, this number had increased to 6,987. At that time, India had about 1.27 theatres for every 1 lakh people — a high density for a country still dealing with poverty and infrastructure issues.
By 1973, Tamil Nadu alone had 1,238 theatres, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 1,122 theatres.
Together, these two southern states had nearly 30% of all screens in India. This shows how deeply rooted theatrical culture is in the South. This culture continues to be visible today in the strong box office performance of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada cinema.
Home video: The OTT of the bygone era
Another interesting part of 'Cinemas Forever' is about home video.
In 1948, all the money from movies came from theaters. But fifty years later, by 1998, theaters only made up 19% of the total money earned from movies. New ways to make money had come into play.
Home video became a big part of the business.
The money earned from home video more than doubled between 1980 and 1985. By 1990, it had more than doubled again from 1985. This change affected how movies were made, how they were advertised, and how they were paid back.
The book says that movie directors and producers were often told to make films that would look good on TV.
As movies started to be made for TV screens, the way films were shot and told also changed. There were more close-ups and fewer wide shots. Some filmmakers and cameramen worried that cinema was losing its big and complex looks because movies were now made with smaller screens in mind.
In India, too, home video became an important source of income.
In the 2000s, home video could bring in between 10% and 20% of a movie's total earnings. Big hits made even more money. For example, the movie 3 Idiots (2009) reportedly sold more than 75,000 to 80,000 VCDs and DVDs quickly after it came out, earning around Rs. 3 to 4 crore.
For mid-budget movies, the time between a movie coming out in theaters and being available on home video also got shorter.
For example, Kalyug (2005) was released on VCD and DVD just six weeks after it first came out in theaters. This became a common approach for movies looking to make money quickly.
Vishek Chauhan's book Cinemas Forever has some interesting facts.
Before OTT changed things, 3 Idiots sold 75,000 to 80,000 VCDs/DVDs and earned Rs. 3 to 4 crores. America sells more movie tickets than its population. India sells just 90 crores of tickets each year.
Streaming and pandemic challenges
The next big challenge came with streaming.
In 2009, the US and Canada sold 1.49 billion movie tickets. By 2019, that number dropped to 1.24 billion. During the same decade, Netflix grew a lot. In 2009, it had around 12 million users in the US. By the end of 2014, it had around 38 million. By the end of 2019, Netflix had over 60 million users in the US and 160 million worldwide.
Again, the movie industry had to ask itself: would people still leave their homes to watch a movie?
The answer came after the pandemic in a very emotional way.
Vishek Chauhan's own experience as a movie theater owner gives the book some of its most touching parts. He remembers how, after a long time of uncertainty and restrictions, the movie Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) became a turning point.
He wrote, "The distributor told me, 'Open the bookings for Spider-Man: No Way Home.'
The command felt more like an invitation back to a world we feared lost. He added, 'And check the advances across Bihar.' What greeted me was nothing short of miraculous... Patna, along with other centers in Bihar, was ablaze with activity. The metros were in a league of their own, with IMAX screenings across the country sold out, days before the premiere. The moment my theatre's bookings were activated, it was as though a dam had burst. Seats filled up with incredible speed, a testament to the pent-up yearnings for the collective magic of cinema."
He also said, "Though Sooryavanshi's (2021) Diwali release had been a beacon of light, logistical delays had tampered with our celebration, keeping us from opening bookings until the very last minute.
But Spider-Man: No Way Home was rewriting the script..."
It was clear that the desire for shared movie experiences had not gone away.
It had just been waiting for the right movie and the right time. Before that, Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) had already given a sign of revival. Vishek recalled, "Godzilla vs. Kong drew crowds, the likes of which hadn't been seen for what seemed like an eternity... my own theatre was a testament to this revival, with the sound of packed morning show audiences resonating like a long-lost melody."
To conclude
That's the main idea of Cinemas Forever.
Every few years, people say cinema is finished. Television was supposed to kill it. Home video was supposed to kill it. Satellite TV was supposed to kill it. Streaming was supposed to kill it. The pandemic was supposed to be the final blow.
Yet, theaters still survive because they offer something no device can truly provide—the shared emotion of watching a story with strangers in the dark.
For India, the message is even more urgent.
The audience is there. The desire is there. The emotional link is there. What's missing is enough, affordable, and accessible infrastructure. If India solves its screen shortage and builds theaters for the masses—not just for the wealthy urban audience—then the country's movie market could grow several times over.
Cinemas Forever is not just a look back at the past.
It is also a reminder that the future of cinema depends not only on content, stars, or streaming platforms. It also depends on how many people can actually experience the magic of the big screen.
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