Rajinikanth's Coolie runs housefull in Tamil Nadu's small town owing to inflatable theatres

Still from Coolie

Superstar Rajinikanth is breaking old records and setting new benchmarks globally with his latest action thriller Coolie. But the film, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, is also pulling off an amusing feat in the interiors of Tamil Nadu: Entertaining an audience that doesn't have traditional cinema halls. Coolie has been firing on full capacity with housefull shows in the 140-seat inflatable PictureTime MFR cinema hall in Bommidi, a small town located over 300 kms from the state capital.

Acessibilty to cinema

At the ongoing 8th edition of Big Cine Expo in Chennai, Sushil Chaudhary, Founder and CEO of PictureTime, spoke about the consumption pattern of the Gen Z - a buzzing topic since Saiyaara exploded on the screen - and noted how they might be glued to reels, but are still craving theatrical experiences. "When it comes to Gen Z, their pattern is similar from tier 1 to tier 5 cities. Sure, their accessibility of content happens from mobile phones but their hunger to watch big films is also very high," he said as part of a session titled 'Rebooting the Box Office: Cracking the Code for Youth, AI, and the Hype Machine.'

Coolie reaches remote towns of Tamil Nadu

Chaudhary said it's important to understand that a large population still doesn't have access to cinemas, but the moment they do, such as in Bommidi via inflatable theatres, they come in huge numbers.

"All four days of Coolie were housefull. It wasn't just because the tickets were affordable, but also because it was accessible. So it's about dignity of viewing which we can provide them as exhibitors. People in the interiors of India, in places like Ladakh, crave for entertainment. In the big cities, our lifestyle is driven by our work, 9-5 job, but that isn'the case in the interiors. So people want to engage and access good entertainment. Even in Sardarsheher, Nagaur, we received calls to screen 'F1' and other Hollywood films. They didn't care that it was the dubbed version or original language - they simply wanted to access it."

The cinema hall in Bommidi is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities including Dolby 5.1 surround sound, high-definition projection, and various amenities like a booking office, power generator, and an F&B counter. It kicked off its operations earlier this year with 'Veera Dheera Sooran- Pt 2'