Multiplextortion

Hi All,

It's just amazing that so many of us want to view films in a comfortable manner which results in a race to finish or fastest finger fist kind of scenario. First and foremost to get tickets for watching a movie in these multiplexes on a weekend means you have to get the bookings done at least by Wednesday else you cannot watch the movie you would like to. So planning for weekend movie begins on Wednesday when you hardly have an accurate idea of your weekend plans and the rider is that these tickets are non- refundable. Also did I forgot to mention that watching a movie on a weekend is almost 30% expensive than on weekdays, phew. Anyways the real extortion gives way once you reach the parking and you realise that you have to pay Rs 40 (??) for parking alone i.e. for 3-4 hours that you will spend catching a movie. Then you move to to the "food lounge" or "candy bar" as they call it and when the real extortion hits you and hits you hard. A mineral water bottle costs you a cool Rs 15/- for a 500ml which you get for Rs 7/- in open market which translates to a more than 100% markup !!. A 400 ml soft drink comes for Rs45/- which in open market costs Rs 16-18 so a markup of almost 250-275%. So a movie for two leads to a total expense of Rs 590 ( Rs 400 for two tickets + Rs 40 as parking charges + Rs 150 for water, soft drink & popcorn)

So what do these things indicate to ? One, it is prohibitively expensive to watch movies in multiplexes and the people who are at the receiving end of this extortion wince every time they fall prey to this extortion but they have no choice but to accept it. Good, clean wholesome entertainment comes at a price which is climbing faster that petrol prices.

Two, monopoly market, about which I read and understood in my MBA classes make so much sense whenever I visit a multiplex. Demand for such movie halls is huge and supply is really scarce. Even after so much overcharging people are forced to view movies in these movie halls due to a lack of options. Some would argue that if you want comfort you need to pay for it, I agree with that but I am sure people demand a differentiation which goes beyond a simple comfort of air conditioned movie hall or glitzy toilets. When I recently visited Inox the food counters had only half the items and the soft drinks and mineral water being sold was not even cold!!. So is this the comfort that we are paying for? I think not.

So looking at the scenario I think consumers would love to go to a low cost place to watch movies. So are we on the brink of an entertainment industry explosion, maybe something on the lines on what happened in the airlines sector with the advent of Air Deccan. I think another chain resembling PVR/Inox etc. and which offer basic services but at an affordable price can blow the market.

Also this indicates another disturbing aspect - many people want to raise their concern about it but don't know where and how. The questions that somebody needs to answer is that isn't there any way by which we consumers can voice our concerns about such practices in a convenient manner. Why isn't there a simple procedure to log in a complaint regarding such issues, maybe even by a e-mail. It is the duty of the authorities to investigate and justify it to the citizens of the country.

Why are we living in the age of innocence or ignorance?

And before I forget if you haven't figured out yet and are still wondering about the title of the article then, the title is a combination of multiplex and extortion.

A