Bollywood star Aamir Khan, speaking at the ongoing Waves Summit 2025 in Mumbai, made a strong case for increasing the number of movie theatres across India. The Waves Summit (World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit) is organised by the Government of India to spotlight the country's media and entertainment industry.

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The need for more screens across the country

Addressing the audience, Aamir Khan said, "My belief is that we need to have a lot more theatres in India and theatres of different kinds. There are districts and vast areas in the country that don't have a single theatre." He continued, "I feel that whatever issues we have faced over the decades is just about having more screens."

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"And according to me, that is what we should be investing in. India has huge potential but that can only be realised when you have more screens across the country. If you don't, then people won't watch the films," he added.

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India lags in cinema infrastructure

Khan also compared India’s theatre count with other major film markets, noting how far behind the country is in screen availability.

"For the size of the country and the number of people living here, we have very few theatres. I think we have around 10,000 screens. In the US, which has one-third the population of India, they have 40,000 screens. So they are way ahead of us. China has 90,000 screens."

The Waves Summit is being held at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will run for four days, from May 1 to May 4.

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