The number of single screens has come down drastically in the Telugu States and in other parts of India. Instead of their number going up with rising population, why are they coming down?
In an old interview, R Narayana Murthy shared an interesting insight in a different context. His kind of revolutionary movies that dealt with socio-economic issues were doing well in rural areas even in the 2000s. However, with the rise of the middle-class segment, balcony seats were increased everywhere and the cheap-priced seats were reduced. It made economic sense for theatres. Narayana Murthy's audiences were front-benchers. They were left out by the changing structure. Slowly, his films became unviable.
The first reason behind the single screens crisis is linked to the rise of the middle-class. This is an inevitable and irreversible development. It's but natural that the multiplex logic has overtaken concomitantly.
The second reason is a creative one. Most good Telugu movies until the late 2000s were worthy of being watched twice by the cinema-crazy crowds. And that's because they featured excellent songs. The current crisis has a lot to do with the disappearance of enjoyable music, especially mass dance numbers. If you want the craze for movies among the rural audience to go up, you have to produce great songs once again.
