The golden age of American cinemas and the TV disruption
Vishek Chauhan, the owner of Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, Bihar, has dropped a new book titled ‘Cinemas Forever’ that is packed with jaw-dropping trivia about the movie business. Published by Notion Press, the book takes readers through the history of cinema both abroad and in India, showing how theatres fought back against television, home video, streaming, and even two pandemics—and still managed to survive.
One of the most startling revelations in the book is about the golden age of theatrical moviegoing in the United States. In 1947, there were 18,000 theatres operating across America. Cinema wasn’t just entertainment back then—it was the third-largest retail business in the country, right after groceries and automobiles. Around 90 million Americans, nearly 60% of the population at the time, went to the movies every single week. The US box office hit its historic peak that year, selling 4.7 billion tickets in 12 months.
But 1947 also marked the beginning of a new disruption. Only about 1 million American households owned a television set that year. By 1950, that number jumped to 4 million. By 1954, it exploded to 26 million. And by 1962, there were 55 million TV sets in the country, penetrating more than 90% of households. The impact on theatres was brutal. Annual box office revenue in the US fell from $1.72 billion in 1946 to $1.4 billion in 1950, $1.1 billion in 1955, and $927 million by 1962. Ticket sales collapsed from 4.7 billion in 1947 to just 1 billion by 1970—a massive 75% drop within 23 years.
Weekly movie attendance also crashed from 90 million in 1947 to 46 million in 1955 and just 17 million by 1970. Yet, as ‘Cinemas Forever’ shows, every disruption forced the exhibition business to reinvent itself.
The birth of the multiplex and India’s under-screening crisis
One such reinvention came in the form of the multiplex. Stanley Durwood, the visionary behind AMC, started the first widely recognized multiplex in 1963 in Kansas City, Missouri. Interestingly, Sumner Redstone of National Amusements is believed to have coined the word ‘multiplex’. The multiplex changed the game because it allowed exhibitors to run multiple films under one roof, maximize real estate, and offer audiences more choice. Decades later, this model would transform urban India, especially after liberalization.
But Chauhan’s book also makes a crucial point: India’s future cannot depend only on luxury multiplexes. Despite having a population of 1.4 billion, India sells close to 90 crore movie tickets annually. By contrast, the United States in 2024 sold around 2.5 times its population in admissions—more than 800 million tickets on a population of around 340 million. If India were to even come close to that per-capita moviegoing habit, it could potentially sell at least 350 crore tickets annually—nearly four times the current level.
Chauhan argues that the problem isn’t a lack of love for cinema—it’s access. India has only around 9,700 screens. The US sustains about 42,000 screens. China, with a population comparable to India’s, has nearly 81,000 screens. Even South Korea, a country of just 52 million people, has more than 2,700 screens. These numbers make India’s under-screening problem impossible to ignore.
The book suggests that the industry needs to urgently rebalance. “The future cannot rest solely on luxury multiplex chains. India needs another 20,000-30,000 theatres, especially affordable, community-focused cinemas that can reconnect audiences in small towns, tier-3 cities, and rural belts. These new-age value cinemas don’t need to mimic the luxury template of PVR and Inox; instead, they must focus on accessibility, affordability, and volume. The priority should be low operating costs, smart digital distribution, lean staffing, and tiered ticket pricing that allows the lower strata to return to the theatrical ecosystem,” Chauhan writes.
From 3 Idiots’ DVD sales to the pre-OTT era
The book also offers fascinating historical context on India’s own exhibition growth. By 1950, India had 2,394 permanent cinemas and another 844 temporary cinema set-ups, making a total of 3,348 theatres nationwide. By 1971, this number had jumped to 6,987. At the time, India had around 1.27 theatres per lakh population—a remarkable density for a country still struggling with poverty and infrastructure challenges.
By 1973, Tamil Nadu alone had 1,238 theatres, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 1,122 theatres. Together, the two southern states accounted for nearly 30% of all screens in India—a reminder of how deeply theatrical culture was embedded in the South, a culture that continues to reflect in strong box office openings even today.
But perhaps the most fun trivia in ‘Cinemas Forever’ comes from the pre-OTT era. Chauhan reveals that before streaming changed the game, Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots sold between 75,000 and 80,000 VCDs and DVDs in America alone, generating Rs. 3-4 crore. Compare that to today’s OTT world, and you realise just how much the business has shifted. The book is packed with such nuggets that will make you look at the movie industry with fresh eyes—and maybe even convince you that the big screen still has a long, glorious road ahead.