SRK feels cinema hall business is going to be severely hit. Here's why

Shah Rukh Khan: Video-streaming platforms will eat into cinema hall business

Shah Rukh Khan

Navigating through previous trends that defined history, it's hardly difficult to judge that video-streaming platforms will alter content consumption, and eventually the business of cinema in the near future. A few weeks before reports of Salman Khan striking a deal with Amazon Prime, which gave the streaming giant exclusive screening rights to all his films even before they hit television, it was Shah Rukh Khan who brought attention to the trend by striking a similar deal with Netflix.

Addressing the imminent growth of the platform, Khan says, "There is a possibility that the business of theatre owners will be severely hit." The actor cites that content on demand services makes films available to cinephiles at their convenience, a luxury that will soon be synonymous to our lifestyle. "In the future, an individual's lifestyle will not depend on how much money is available in the bank, but on the freedom of doing whatever he wants to do, whenever, however and wherever he wants to do it. It is going to make living easier."

Also read: Salman Khan signs deal with Amazon Prime Video

Yet, synonymous to a shopping portal's inability to replicate the experience of personally purchasing goods, video-streaming platforms will fail at providing the ambience that cinema halls do, says Shah Rukh Khan. "I don't think the business will fade into oblivion. There will be films that people would want to watch in theatres with the family. In fact, the atmosphere in cinema halls too has drastically changed. I recently caught a film in a theatre which had recliner seats and blankets. Nowadays, they have butler services too. So, people are going to be enticed by the luxury."

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