Quality Management System of Indian Movie Theatres and its effectiveness

I would like to bring this to the notice of “Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B)” about a bitter experience I had experienced at a renowed movie theater in Chennai (Rohini Theatre - https://rohinisilverscreens.com/ ), Tamil Nadu. Being a Quality Management student at one of the India’s prestigious universities (BITS WILP) and state topper of Tamil Nadu (1st year with 9.6 CGPA), I would like to present this incident as a case study of QMS in Indian movie theatres (with 1 study sample).

Background:

Had a tiring week and semester exams, I went to this theater with my friend to chill out (Saturday – 3rd Dec’22). Therefore, I booked two shows for my friend and me in this so called “Fan’s Fortress” theatre (10am – “Love Today” and 4pm – “Black panther wakanda forever”). During the interval break of 10am, we bought two large popcorns (approx. 450 Rs.) But we manage to eat only half of it. Hence, requested the canteen staffs to have these popcorn buckets until we go to the 4pm show. Meanwhile, my mobile was dying with 2% of charge and we also had charger with us. Therefore, we also requested the management to charge my mobile phone.

Issue Faced:??

1.????Popcorn case: The canteen owner and theatre manager (Mr. Jayaraj– if I’m not wrong) rejected to secure the half-filled large popcorns because of their theatre policy. We wanted to go to the VR mall (500 meters away from this theatre). My friend and I, was forced to walk with this half empty popcorn bucket and the entire crowd on the roads were looking us weirdly. This made me feel ashamed not for something I did.

2.????Mobile charging: Same as the previous case, the theatre team responded the management policy didn’t allow them to charge mobiles in the canteen area.

Possible repercussions:

This above two incidents may sound silly, but it has high relevance and impact to the lives of Indian people.

1.????In popcorn case, not me anyone who had faced this issue may feel demotivated and their personal health along with their mental health can come down. This might even lead to depression or Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or suicidal thought or any other physical or Mental disorders (Major impact)

2.????In charger case, the impact would be even more severe. Let me explain it with two most probable scenarios, but not limited to the below ones.

a.????Imagine a girl or boy, who goes for an evening or night show (in any theatres across India) and her or his mobile is dead because of negligence of the theatre management. What if she or he was abused or raped or kidnapped or met with an incident? How she or he will contact her close circle during those strategic moments.

b.???The parents or friends or relative or other known ones are in a serious emergency and trying hard to reach you. But because of the irresponsible theatre management, they might not reach them on time (your mobile is dead). This could even cost a life.

On-site audit at theater manager's cabin:

Being a certified internal auditor for medical devices (ISO 13485), I have 2 years of experience in medical device auditing and performed 4 internal audits within my previous employer (HCL Technologies) along with our quality team. As narrated in the above two cases (Please refer issue faced section), requested the management to show their QMS certificate, Standard Operating Procedures, Policies, Guidance document, Checklists and other relevant documents for inspecting its compliance against ISO 9001:2015- Quality management requirements and IS 15700:2015 – Quality management system requirements for service quality by public service organizations.

Response from the theater manager:

·??????What is ISO 9001 and IS 15700? (This means they don’t have any so called “theatre policy” which the theatre canteen staffs and the manager mentioned – refer Issue faced section)

·??????Who the hell are you to question me (being a consumer paid approx. 900rs for two shows)?

Note: Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or "instrumentality of State") which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days (reference –source link). If I can request for information about a government body, why I can’t ask information about a movie theatre which was licensed by the same Indian government body.

·??????Why we need to show any documents to you?

·??????Try and do whatever you can do. Let me face the consequences

·??????If you’re unable to eat a large popcorn, it’s your fault in purchasing it (Any theater manager/owner has no rights to question or demand the consumer what they want to do. I can eat or denote or put it in trash can it’s my issue, why theatre managers/owners interfere in some one’s personal decision?)

·??????It’s your fault you didn’t charge your mobile and you could have come to the theatre office room and charged. But, none of the theatre canteen employees were trained in directing a consumer to theatre office room for charging (Pretty much obvious that they don’t have any knowledge of quality management system and its personnel training requirements).

Non-compliance identified:

The theatre management and owners are least bothered about International Organization for Standardization (ISO) – QMS standard. Leave international standard, they didn’t even follow IS 15700 (which is according to me is disrespecting Indian constitution and regulatory standards).

Preventive actions to be taken:

·??????Need to prepare require documentation for QMS certification

·??????Approach the concern state or country’s regulatory bodies for standard compliance

·??????Make sure all the set QMS plans are executed properly

·??????Engage in process improvement activities and refine them continuously (especially on QMS part)

Request to the Indian and State government (Tamil Nadu):

·??????Take severe action against the Rohini theatre management for not setting up a QMS system and disrespecting a consumer (with harsh words and negligence)

·??????Inspect all the theatres across the nations for their service and other quality related attributes (definitely 80% of theaters won’t have QMS certificate – my prediction)

·??????Make sure each theatre has a proper feedback portal or site through which the consumers can post their concerns (theatre owner must ensure whether the collected feedbacks are implemented properly or not).

Conclusion:

Me being a Biocompatibility/Toxicology scientist, we are working day and night on the back-end with a medical device manufacturer to ensure that the medical device is safe for human use. If I don’t do my biological evaluation of medical device properly, that could impact or even kill (in severe circumstances) millions of lives around the globe. We are working hard to safeguard millions of people and their lives, but theatres are least bothered about those lives which we struggle to safeguard. I’m not posting this to gain any financial compensation from the theatre manager or the owners. I’m posting this to create an awareness among the Indian theatre industry and prevent any possible chaos even before its occurrence. As an M.Tech quality student, I strongly believe that risk prevention is more effective than risk control for managing the risk. Because during the risk control, the action against the risk is only taken after a disastrous event (which is not an ideal approach). This Rohini theatre incident is just a heads-up. Therefore, I request the State government of Tamil Nadu and Indian government to take necessary action (not just this theatre, but any theatres which is not following QMS practices across India). I'm ready to even share my movie tickets as proof of evidence upon request and you can even cross-check the above mentioned incident via the theater’s CCTV footages.

For your kind notice,

1.????Rohini theater: Rohini Silver Screens

2. TN Police: Tamil Nadu Police , Tamil Nadu Police Force , and Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation Limited

2.????Chief minister of Tamil Nadu: MK Stalin

3.????Ministry of Information and Broadcasting head: Mr. @Sh Anurag Singh Thakur

4. Prime minister of India: Narendra Modi

5. Press & Media: The Times Of India , NDTV , India Today , The Indian Express , The Hindu , News18 India , Business Standard , Thanthi TV (Metronation Chennai Television Pvt Ltd) , polimer News , Sunnews newstamil , and Jayanewslive

6. Social Media: Savukkku Shankar , IndiaGlitz , and Behindwoods

I request all the Linkedin professionals (especially Indian community) to trend this article (QMS case study) until it reaches the concern theatre management and our government officials. By trending this case study, this small piece of information might reach the right ears and save millions of lives.

If it’s possible, I’m requesting Rohini theatre owner’s contact information (email id or social handles or mobile contact number). I would like to be a part of the QMS implementation process and guide them for getting them the QMS certificates from the concern regulatory body free of cost.?

?Please correct me if I'm wrong and open for any constructive criticisms. Thanks.

Evidence and proofs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UJSFhu3w8_v_dosz44M4yCtMPdJ4rO9a?usp=sharing

With lots of love and passion for India,

Viswanath Srinivasan (Adhaar ID No.583119580882 ), M.Tech in Quality Management), M.B.A in Human Resource management, Executive diploma in Medical Device Management, PG diploma in product design and development and B.E in Biomedical Engineering,

Biocompatibility/Toxicology scientist, India.