This weekend, even the latest release '
Dhadak' could not attract Gurgaon moviegoers to the cinema halls of MG Road. In the last two weeks, after frequent raids in the clubs of
MG Road malls, while the footfall for the afternoon and evening shows has dipped, the night shows in all the cinema halls in MG Road area has had the lowest occupancy. The Gurgaon
Police conducted three raids in the area this month – for underage drinking, violation of closing deadline and alleged prostitution – and as a result, many moviegoers seem to be avoiding the area.
Coming out of a cinema hall on MG Road at night is a risk to reputation: Moviegoers
Moviegoers tell us why they avoid going to cinema halls in MG Road malls. Tarun Kumar, a gym instructor, who lives in
Essel Towers, says, “I work in Delhi and usually get down at the MG Road
Metro Station. So, when I have to catch a movie after work, I go to one of these malls. But I have not seen a single movie in these malls in the last 15-20 days because there is constant police presence near the malls, and I don’t want to be present at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
S K Sharma*, a 42-year-old who lives in Essel Tower, says, “These malls are at a walking distance from my society, so, it’s convenient to come here for late night shows. Recently, when I came out of a cinema hall at around 1-2 am with my friends, two-three sex workers approached us. I was shocked, and decided to avoid going there for late night shows. When I got to know about the raids, and arrest of sex workers even from inside the malls, I decided not to watch any late night shows in the MG Road area again.”
A cinema hall at a mall on MG Road during night time
‘It’s not a family outing place anymore’
There are a number of residential societies near MG Road, and the residents who used to come to these cinema halls now prefer not to visit the area in the evenings. Gunjan Gujral, a software developer who lives in Sukhrali area near MG Road, says, “The area was never safe, but the malls were. But after what we have read or heard about the clubs at MG Road in the last two weeks, I can’t even imagine going to any of the cinema halls in MG Road at night, either alone or with my family. I would rather not watch a film than go to these theatres. Now, these malls and theatres of MG Road are reserved for day outings.”
The staff at the cinema halls say that the past week has been exceptionally low, with average occupancy in cinemas ranging between 5-10%. Metro commuters and residents tell us that these days, they find it difficult to even cross the stretch at night due to the rowdy crowd outside these malls. Aman Bajaj, who works in the retail sector and lives in a DLF Phase II, says, “We have stopped going for late night shows at the cinema halls at MG Road. Even if one goes for the 8pm show, it is quite late when you step out after watching the film. And what happens outside the MG road malls is something that we would not like our children to witness. Hence most of the families in our society prefer going to Delhi to watch movies.”
Exceptionally low footfall
Whenever any incident is reported from MG Road, the occupancy of the theatres in these malls dip, but in the last two weeks, the figure has been quite low. A staff member at a cinema hall in MG Road says, “The week’s been quite low key in terms of footfalls. And it’s not just for night shows.” Another staff member, says, “We are hoping the I-Day week will help with the footfall. We don’t see the situation improving even marginally before that.”
