Single-screen theaters across the Telugu states are voluntarily pulling down their shutters this May, driven by a brutal combination of skyrocketing operating costs and zero mainstream content. The crisis has reached a boiling point with the arrival of Rohini Karte, the astronomical period starting May 25 known for unleashing the most punishing, furnace-like heatwaves of the summer. As outdoor temperatures cross a blistering 46°C, the traditional holiday crowds have completely vanished, forcing exhibitors to make a painful financial calculation.
The extreme weather has turned running a cinema hall into a massive financial loss. To keep massive single-screen halls bearable during Rohini Karte, theater owners must run heavy-duty central air conditioning units continuously. However, with the regional power grids facing historic peak demands, unscheduled power trippings have forced exhibitors to rely heavily on industrial diesel generators. When a single afternoon matinee show brings in barely twenty patrons but consumes thousands of rupees in commercial electricity and diesel expenses, keeping the doors open becomes a fast track to bankruptcy.
This environmental strain is compounded by a fierce institutional standoff over revenue models. Tired of bearing fixed daily rental costs while footfalls plummet, the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Exhibitors Associations have engaged in a strict cold war with the Producers Guild, demanding an immediate shift to a percentage-based revenue-sharing system. Exhibitors argue that while producers make comfortable profits through OTT and satellite rights, single-screens are left carrying all the operational risks under the outdated rental system.
The final blow to the season is an unprecedented content drought. The highly anticipated April-May holiday window, which traditionally generates up to ₹300 crore in theater grosses, has brought in less than ₹50 crore this year. Major production houses panicked over post-production delays and shifted big-ticket, crowd-pulling spectacles like Lenin, and Ram Charan’s Peddi completely out of the summer corridor. Left with no star power to draw families out of their air-conditioned homes during the harshest phase of summer, exhibitors are deciding that locking up their properties is far cheaper than running empty shows.
