Video parlours are the only hope for movie lovers in Jamshedpur. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Feb. 16: While the rest of the world is enjoying Slumdog Millionaire, many movie buffs here have to be content with DVDs, thanks to the absence of a multiplex.

“The ticket prices are low and the chunk of the audience mainly comprises the low income group who do not like movies like Taare Zameen Par (TZP) or Slumdog. Though TZP rocked the nation in 2007, the response here was pathetic. The movie had to be removed in less than a week,” said P.K. Bhattacharjee, manager of Star Talkies for 40 years.

For theatres here, it is a no-profit, no-loss game. The audience here wants masala flicks and Rab Ne Bada Di Jodi and Ghajini managed to do well.

IT professional Deboshree Sinha said: “We do not want to watch a movie with eve-teasers. We cannot take our families to the theatres here fearing mishaps. We don’t mind shelling out a few hundreds to watch a movie peacefully.”

Theatre owners have their own share of problems.

Payal Cinema manager C.L. Sharma said: “Even if we want, distributors do not allow us to screen movies that would appeal to the urban class. Ninety per cent of films are not doing well. They have bad stories. The theatres here are in a pathetic state.”

Many distributors have also cheated theatre owners by receiving advances and then absconding. A body, named Jharkhand Bihar Motion Picture Association, was also formed to combat problems but that is now non-functional. “A distributor generally takes 70 per cent of the profit. But if the movie does well, the percentage increases as per their wish,” said Bhattacharjee.

“Prices have to be fixed by producers. Marketing agencies are a nuisance making a movie costlier by 10-15 crores. Piracy is big business. Who would want to showcase new films in places like Jamshedpur where we won’t get a decent share of profit?” said I.H. Khan, a film distributor of the Jharkhand and Bihar circle.