Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan didn’t mince words at the ‘World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025’ in Mumbai, where he spotlighted a long-overlooked issue in India’s entertainment ecosystem: the severe shortage of movie theatres.
Speaking during a panel titled “Studios of the Future: Putting India on the World Studio Map”, held at the Jio World Convention Centre (JACC), Aamir shared some eye-opening statistics and strong opinions.
His main message? India’s booming film industry is being throttled by a lack of screens — and it’s time to treat movie theatres as serious infrastructure investments.
“The number of screens we have is shockingly low,” said Aamir Khan at WAVES 2025, with his trademark calm intensity. “India, with over 1.4 billion people, has just around 10,000 movie theatres. The US, with only a third of our population, has 40,000. China? A whopping 90,000. We’re not even in the same league.”
He also broke down the math for Hindi films, pointing out that of the 10,000 screens in India, half are in the South, leaving just about 5,000 for Bollywood and other non-South Indian films.
But it’s not just about numbers — it’s about impact. “Even the biggest blockbuster in any language rarely crosses a theatrical footfall of three crore people,” Aamir noted. “That’s just 2% of our population watching our biggest movies in theatres. In a country that lives and breathes cinema, that’s a shockingly low number.”
Known for picking projects with purpose, the ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Dangal’ star didn’t just rant — he offered a solution. He called for urgent investments in building more theatres, especially in small towns and rural districts that currently have no access to big screens.
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“There are vast regions in India where people have to travel hours to find a single theatre — or they just miss out altogether,” he said. “If we’re serious about growing our film industry and creating jobs, we need to treat theatres the same way we treat roads, railways, or schools. They’re cultural infrastructure.”
He believes the return on investment could be huge, not just for the film industry but for the entire economy. More theatres mean more viewers, more revenue, and more room for diverse stories to find an audience.
“India has incredible storytelling talent, technical prowess, and a massive audience. But the potential is wasted if people can’t even watch the films being made,” Aamir added. “We need theatres of all kinds — from high-end multiplexes to accessible single screens — to make sure cinema reaches everyone.”