With the shift from single-screen theatres to multiplexes, nearly two dozen single-screen cinema theatres in the city are finding it difficult to survive, even as silver and golden jubilee terms appear a dream of past to film distributors.

Of the 21 single-screen theatres in Ludhiana, 10 have embraced Bhojpuri films due to the market demand, while others show old action movies or dubbed ones, with some playing C-grade films to survive.

Basant, Swaran, Nirmal, Naulakha, Sitara, Arora, Surjeet, Surya, Chand, Midi Shingaar and Mini Chand screen Bhojpuri films, while Society, Deepak, Manju and Preet screen old action movies and Lakshmi, Mini Arora, Raikhey show dubbed movies. While Preet Palace sometimes screens new movies, Aarti, Orient and Mini Shingaar are the only single-screen theatres that run newly released movies regularly.

According to a film distributor, Naulakha theatre earned 60 per cent revenue from 1995-2002 but from then onwards its earnings fell to nearly 40 per cent. Swaran cinema once recorded 80 per cent revenue from sale of tickets, which has dropped to less than 60 per cent after 2002. Earlier Preet collected 70 per cent revenue that fell to 40 per cent from 2006 to 2009.

Shingaar, one of the three screens at the Shingaar cinema complex where latest Hindi and Bhojpuri are screened, recorded revenue collections up to 80 per cent between 1999 and 2003. The collections dropped to nearly 60 per cent between 2003 and 2006, while the last three years have recorded only 40 per cent revenue.

... contd.