Aamir Khan addresses the ‘lack of screens’ in India: ‘We should be investing in theatres’

Bollywood films have been in a financial drought for a few years now, with only a few flicks raking up numbers in the box office. While the lack of original storytelling and the heavy reliance of sequels and remakes have been brought up as reasons, actor Aamir Khan attributes a different reason for the low returns—lack of theatres.

ALSO READ | WAVES 2025 | Amitabh Bachchan-backed Tara Gaming unveils ‘The Age of Bhaarat’ AAA game: Watch announcement trailer

On the second day of the World Audio and Visual Summit (WAVES), the actor did not shy away from pointing out the scarcity of big screens in a vast country like India. "My belief is that we need to have a lot more theatres in India and theatres of different kinds. There are districts and vast areas in the country which don't have a single theatre,” Khan said, as quoted by ANI.

The 3 Idiots actor personally feels that investments should be driven towards theatres, explaining that there is untapped potential in India that will open up once more screens are set up. "I feel that whatever issues we have faced over the decades is just about having more screens. And according to me, that is what we should be investing in. India has huge potential but that can only be realised when you have more screens across the country. If you don't, then people won't watch the films," the actor said.

ALSO READ | Aamir Khan defends Bollywood amid rising praise for regional cinema

The 60-year-old further compared the ratio of theatres in India to the ones in the United States and China. "For the size of the country and the number of people living here, we have very few theatres. I think we have around 10,000 screens. In the US, which has one-third the population of India, they have 40,000 screens. So they are way ahead of us. China has 90,000 screens.”

Khan presented the statistic that theatrical footfall over the years has been three crore people, only 2 per cent of the population, even for the biggest hits.

According to a 2023 statistic obtained from Statista, the number of theatres in India stands at 9,742, with a majority of them spread across South India. 

Entertainment