Court forces movie theater to pay for ‘agony’ of too many ads

An Indian man has successfully won damages from the country's biggest movie theater after he complained about having to watch too many advertisements.

It's a common complaint among cinephiles, but how many of us have sued a movie theater for showing too many trailers?

A man in India has successfully won damages from the country's biggest movie theater in a consumer court after he complained that having to watch too many advertisements before a movie caused him to miss important work meetings.

In December 2023, Abhishekh M.R., who lives in the city of Bengaluru, paid $10 (826 rupees) for three tickets to see the war drama “Sam Bahadur” at a PVR movie theater, records of the Bangalore Urban Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission showed. 

A PVR cinema box office in New Delhi. Money Sharma / AFP via Getty Images fileThe movie, which was scheduled to begin at 4:05 p.m and end at 6:30 p.m., was delayed for nearly half an hour because the theater played what Abhishekh called “trailers, advertisements and other fillers,” according to his court ruling.

The delay caused him to miss “other arrangements and appointments” scheduled that day, resulting in losses “which cannot be calculated in terms of money as a compensation,” the moviegoer told the court.