A court ruling in India said that a man received compensation from the country's largest film company after he complained about the necessity to watch numerous commercials before the movie, leading to the loss of important work time. In December 2023, Abhishek M. received compensation for the showing of the film and "psychological suffering" from an Indian entertainment giant in January 2024.
According to the court, "violations of the cinema regulation principles regarding viewer expenses were found to be unfair and unethical." The network was ordered to pay $320 in compensation and $1,150 in fines for regulatory violations and organization.
The court noted that long Indian films include interruptions, including up to 15-minute commercial breaks. The court also indicated that no one should be forced to spend time and money of others, and that a 30-minute advertisement before the film is excessively long for viewers.
Abhishek from Bangalore paid $10 for three tickets to the wartime drama "Sam Bahadur" at PVR, according to the permission committee for urban consumer disputes in Bangalore. The film, which was supposed to start at 16:05 and end at 18:30, began with a delay of about half an hour due to the cinema showing, in Abhishek's opinion, "trailers, advertisements, and other filler," according to the court's ruling.