A viewer in Bangalore, India, recently fined PVR-Inox, one of the country’s largest cinema chains, after filing a case in court for wasting his time by showing advertisements for 25 minutes before the film Sam Bahadur.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 1.2 lakh (120,000) on the cinema chain.

A bench consisting of Justices M. Shobha, Anitha Sivakumar, and Suma Anil ruled that time must be respected, stating, “In the modern era, time is money. Everyone’s time is valuable. No one has the right to take advantage of someone else’s time and money.”

The court further remarked that sitting through 25-30 minutes of unnecessary advertisements is not only a waste of time but also prevents people from spending valuable time with their families.

This ruling serves as a reminder for theaters to be mindful of the audience’s time when displaying long advertisements.

While this issue has been addressed in India, it remains unmentioned in Nepal. In many Nepali cinemas, it’s common practice to show advertisements for up to 30 minutes, leading to concerns that local theaters may need to take this issue more seriously and be more considerate of their audiences.