MUMBAI/BANGALORE: The slowdown in the real estate sector has cast a shadow on Bollywood as fewer multiplexes are available for distribution of films, indirectly affecting the box office collection of new releases. 

Multiplexes rake in a major share of a film's total collection and almost 90 per cent of these multiplexes are housed in malls, attracting huge footfalls. With the delivery of 25-30 malls across the country being delayed by a couple of years, Bollywood lost out on at least 150 additional multiplex screens which could have garnered more revenue to the industry. 

"Growth in multiplex screens does make a significant difference to the collections of movies today. For example, the average collection from multiplex screens for our two blockbusters last year was Rs 5 lakh per screen for Rowdy Rathore and Rs 6.5 lakh per screen for Barfi. 

So, if another 50 or 100 screens were available, one can safely assume that collections would have jumped by Rs 1.5 crore for Barfi and Rs 3 crore for Rathore, even if 60 per cent of these screens were allocated to one of these films," says Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Studios, Disney UTV. 

The delay in construction of malls, for instance, could be the main reason why PVR chose to buy CinemaxBSE -0.17 % with its 138 screens last year to emerge as the largest player. "From PVR's perspective, about 30-35 screens more could have been added had the malls been delivered on time, which would have resulted in an additional turnover of about Rs 50 crore, of which the box office would have contributed about Rs 33 crore. 

Luckily, none of our signed developments have been dropped and they are getting delivered for sure, though delayed by six to eight months," says Pramod Arora, group president of PVR. The malls have been hit the hardest as builders have shifted focus to the residential sector, where the returns are better. 

"Developers are not constructing malls as they are not economically viable and have longer gestation periods. Residential prices, on the other hand, rise faster. 

Though rentals for multiplexes are highest in Bangalore, since they can screen movies in six languages, the average occupancy at multiplexes has dropped to around 28-30 per cent from 38 per cent a decade ago as there were very few multiplexes earlier," says Shubhranshu Pani, MD, retail services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, adding that supply of multiplexes is going be one of the biggest constraints. 

This means that for multiplex players, land or rentals which constitute 10-15 per cent of their costs may also rise. Currently, about four players — PVR, InoxBSE 0.75 %, Big Cinemas and Fun — control close to 950 multiplex screens of the total 1,200 operational, post the two big acquisitions of Fame and Cinemax. 

Indeed, the real estate slowdown has affected the expansion plans of foreign players like Imax, whose MD, Asia Pacific, Don Savant says the real estate situation in India is far more critical compared with North America. Other foreign players like Mexican chain Cinepolis, are operating at 50 per cent capacity because of lack of multiplexes. "India has the possibility of opening 100 screens a year, but only 20-30 per cent of that is happening, which is why we are still at 49 screens," says Milan Saini, MD of Cinepolis.