Waves 2025: Aamir expressed happiness from the stage, said- for the first time a government has decided to make India a leader in entertainment..

Star Aamir Khan said on Friday that India is a country that loves movies, but most of the people here do not have access to cinema halls. While countries like America and China are far ahead in terms of the number of screens. Aamir said, there have been many governments in the last 35 years, but no one thought about us. This is the first time that a government has decided to do something for the media and entertainment sector, to make India a leader in it.

Access to cinema for two percent of the population

On the second day of the first World Audiovisual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) here, Aamir Khan participated in a session titled 'Studios of the Future: India on the World Studio Map'. Aamir said that there is a serious need for investment in infrastructure to promote the growth of the entertainment industry. He said, there is a need for more cinema halls in India. There are districts in the country where there is not a single theatre.

He said that even blockbuster films, only a small part of Indians can watch them in theatres. Only two percent of the population watches our biggest hits in theatres. Where do the remaining 98 percent of people watch movies?

India is behind America and China

The actor said, according to me we should invest in it. There is a lot of potential in India, but it can be benefited only when there are more screens across the country. If this does not happen then people will not watch movies. Aamir said that India is far behind America and China in terms of the number of cinema screens.

India has only 10 thousand screens, China has 90,000 screens.

Aamir said, we have very few cinemas according to the size of the country and the population. I think we have about 10,000 screens. America, which has a third of India's population, has 40,000 screens. So they are far ahead of us. China has 90,000 screens. He said, even out of these 10,000, half are in the south and the other half are in the rest of the country. So for a Hindi film, it is usually around 5,000 screens.

Not a single cinema hall in areas like Konkan
Aamir Khan also lamented that in many areas of India, including areas like Konkan, there are no cinema halls. People in those areas will hear about films, and see discussions online, but they have no way to watch these films. This is a very unfortunate situation. So the first thing we need to do is that we should have more screens.

The film business is being destroyed.
Aamir said that the time between a film's release in theatres and coming on streaming is very short. He said you are ending your own business. Earlier, films used to come in theatres and after a year on satellite. Then it started coming on satellite after eight and six months. So, as a viewer, I have a choice I can watch the film in theatres or I can wait for six months and watch it on satellite.

Hopefully, the discussions held in Waves will translate into policies.

Actor Aamir Khan said, Hopefully, the discussions held at Waves conference will translate into policies. I think for the first time this dialogue has started between the creative fraternity and the government. This is a very welcome beginning. With the right kind of dialogue with the government, we can make some policies that will have a deep and far-reaching impact on business in the creative sectors.

We need to set up distribution networks in different countries.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and filmmaker Dinesh Vijan on Friday said that Indian filmmakers should also look beyond India while marketing their films. He said that we need to set up distribution networks in different countries. Aamir Khan was joined in the session by 'Stree' producer Dinesh Vijan, Excel Entertainment's Ritesh Sidhwani, PVR Inox head Ajay Bijli, senior US producer Charles Rowan and Mumbai-based VFX firm DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra.

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