Everyone Talks About Film Collections, But Who’s Talking About Skyrocketing Ticket Prices?

By Sharad Rai

These days, there is noise everywhere about the box-office earnings of the film Dhurandhar. Reports claim that the film has broken records by entering the ₹1,000-crore-plus club, surpassing even high-grossing films like Pathaan, Jawan, Pushpa 2, and Animal. Those who had dismissed the film as “bad” on its release day are now singing praises after seeing the earnings figures.

But in all this celebration, hardly anyone is asking an important question—where have cinema ticket prices reached today?

Dhurandhar is the last big blockbuster of 2025, and news suggests that theatre tickets were sold at prices as high as ₹2,400, with ₹2,000 tickets selling rapidly online. The intention here is not to question the authenticity of these prices, but to highlight how drastically the cinema business has changed. Today, there are very few producers willing to invest ₹500–1,000 crore in films, and equally few viewers who can afford to buy a ₹2,400 ticket. The irony is striking—many theatres look nearly empty, yet films are earning thousands of crores. Clearly, ticket pricing has become the decisive factor.

From ₹2.40 to ₹2,400: A Journey of Cinema Tickets

Hearing about Dhurandhar’s ticket prices takes me back to a time when, inspired by the famous dialogue “Pushpa… I hate tears!”, I ran to Mumbai’s Diana Cinema to watch Amar Prem (1972). It was Rajesh Khanna’s superhit film. Back then, stall tickets cost ₹1.35, and I watched the film from the balcony for just ₹2.40. Compare that to today’s ₹2,400 ticket—shocking!

South Mumbai once had several cinemas with affordable ticket prices. School kids bunking classes, young couples, and daily-wage workers would come there for low-cost entertainment. When stall ticket prices increased from ₹1.05 to ₹1.35, it was already considered expensive. Typically, ticket rates were ₹1.35 for lower stall, ₹1.60 for upper stall, and ₹2.40 for the balcony.

Cinemas like Diana, Daulat, Roop, Milan, Hindmata, Majestic, Nandi, Sheetal, and Navrang were popular low-cost theatres in Mumbai. Many legendary filmmakers watched movies there during their struggling days—including today’s successful director Rohit Shetty, who too experienced cinema through such affordable theatres.

When Film Ads and Dialogues Drew Crowds

In the 1960s and 70s, newspaper film advertisements were extremely attractive—full-page spreads with movie stills and captions like “Grand Second Week,” “Houseful on Public Demand,” or “Special Demand from Women.” Some theatres even advertised discounted morning-show ticket prices—40 paise, 70 paise, or ₹1.05.

Film dialogues played a huge role in pulling audiences to theatres. Iconic lines were printed on posters and ads:

“Pushpa… I hate tears!” — Amar Prem

“Jali ko aag kehte hain…” — Vishwanath (Shatrughan Sinha)

“Don ko 11 mulkon ki police dhoond rahi hai…” — Don (Amitabh Bachchan)

These dialogues became part of everyday language and cinema history.

Iconic Dialogues That Still Live On

Pakeezah (1972) – Raaj Kumar

“Aapke paanv dekhe… bahut haseen hain.”

Sholay (1975) – Amjad Khan

“Kitne aadmi the?”

Anand (1971) – Rajesh Khanna

“Zindagi badi honi chahiye Babumoshai, lambi nahi.”

Mother India (1957) – Nargis

“Is dharti ne mujhe janam diya hai…”

Waqt (1965) – Raaj Kumar

“Jinke ghar sheeshe ke hote hain…”

Zanjeer – Amitabh Bachchan

“Jab tak baithne ko na kaha jaye, khade raho.”

Devdas

“Kaun kambakht hai jo bardasht karne ke liye peeta hai…”

Kaala Patthar – Shatrughan Sinha

“Khamosh!”

Jawan

"Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar"

Bobby

"Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra"

Namak Halal

"I can talk English, I can walk English, I can run English... because English is a very phunny language"

Deewar

"Main aaj bhi pheke hue paise nahin uthata"

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge

"Bade bade shehron mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain, Senorita."

View this post on Instagram

Mr. India

"Mogambo khush hua!"

Damini

"Taareekh pe taareekh, taareekh pe taareekh, taarekh pe taareekh."

Maine Pyaar Kiya

"Dosti ka ek usool hai, madam: no sorry, no thank you"

The Dirty Picture

Filmein sirf teen cheezon ki wajah se chalti hain- entertainment, entertainment, entertainment. Aur main entertainment hoon!”

Om Shanti Om

Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho; to puri kainaat usse tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.

Baazigar

“Kabhi Kabhi Kuch Jeetne Ke Liya Kuch Haar Na Padta Hai. Aur Haar Ke Jeetne Wale Ko Baazigar Kehte Hain.”

Mughal-e-Azam

"Salim tujhe marne nahi dega ... aur hum Anarkali tujhe jeene nahi denge."

Dabangg

“Thapad se darr nahi lagta, pyaar se lagta hai”

Om Shanti Om

Ek chutki sindoor ki keemat tum kya jaano Ramesh Babu.

Chak De India

“Har team main bas ek hi gunda ho sakta hai aur iss team ka gunda main hoon!”

kal ho naa ho.

“Hasso, jiyo, muskurao. Kya pata, kal ho naa ho.”

Times kept changing. The lines from Sridevi’s song “Mere Haathon Mein Nau Nau Choodiyan” or Shah Rukh Khan’s trademark dialogue “K… k… k… Kiran” slowly disappeared from film posters, and in their place began the era of promotion through teasers and promos. Cinema that once stayed in people’s minds gradually took a back seat. The phase moved towards teaser releases.

Sunny Deol’s previous film ‘Jaat’ had its teaser released simultaneously on 26,000 screens along with Pushpa 2. With a single teaser, people on social media felt they had already seen the essence of the entire film. The curiosity was gone. Those long queues, standing for hours at cinema booking windows, four people pushing with their hands together to get tickets, shirts getting torn in the rush for tickets—where is that excitement of finally getting a ticket now? Today, when a film releases and you plan to go to the theatre with your family, the moment you hear the ticket price, half your monthly salary flashes before your eyes.

Anyway, ticket prices that had risen from ₹4.50 to ₹8.75 till the 1980s now demand ₹2,000–₹2,400 to be spent. In 1975, we watched ‘Sholay’ on its first day, first show at Mumbai’s Milan Talkies by buying a ₹4.50 ticket (at the increased price). A few months later, we saw long queues of audiences watching the same ‘Sholay’ in a small, cheaper neighbourhood cinema for ₹2.40. And today, hearing the ticket price of the re-release (revised version) of ‘Sholay’, the hand that goes into the pocket refuses to come out. Truly, the entire game is about cinema ticket prices.