Book My Show is hands down India's leading first ticket aggregator, which needs no formal introduction. While in most sectors and business spaces, we have seen several companies competing with each other, Book My Show has little competition in their segment. According to the company's official website, Book My Show has 50 million plus app downloads, 15 million plus tickets in a month, and two billion-plus page views every month.
Book My Show is generally associated with booking movie tickets, but it offers tickets and passes for events, theatre plays, sports competitions, concerts, and exciting activities. Whenever a major concert or event is happening in India, chances are high that its ticket will be sold on Book My Show; such is the stature of this brand across India.
For the uninitiated, Book My Show caters to more than 30 million customers in five different countries. In India, it is used in more than 650 towns and cities with 5,000 screens. The reason behind Book My Show's immense success is the funding it has received from big players like TPG Growth, Stripes Group, Network 18, Accel, and SAIF Partners.
Talking about Book My Show's journey, it was co-founded by three friends, Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar, and Rajesh Balpande. It was back in August 2007 when Book My Show was launched, and its parent company, Big Tree Entertainment, was founded on July 26, 1999. According to the Book My Show's official website, Ashish, Parikshit, and Rajesh decided to start a company when they were holidaying in South Africa. The trio wanted to try their hand at entrepreneurship and chose the lesser-explored ticketing service space in India.
It was Ashish Hemrajani, who left his high-paying job at the global advertising company, J. Walter Thompson company. While Ashish took command of the company's overall operations, Parikshit Dar took responsibility for its technology, and Rajesh Balpande started handling the finances. In the business industry, their trio is renowned by the moniker of 'The Three Musketeers'. Well, in the early 2000s, with the emergence of large multiple chains in India, they capitalised on the opportunity and joined hands with theatre chains across India and offered them ticketing services with a New Zealand software, Vista.
Go For Ticketing is the name Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande finalised for their ticketing service. India Ticketing is another name that was used in 2002, but in 2007, the three musketeers held a name suggestion contest in their office. It was when an engineering intern suggested the name, Book My Show and it instantly clicked with Ashish and his two buddies. Hence, in August 2007, Book My Show was launched after getting a considerable financial push from the entertainment giants, Network 18.
According to a report in Entrepreneurs Today, Ashish Hemrajani sent a drunk text to his then-boss, mentioning that he would start his business and leave the job. Surprisingly, Ashish's boss accepted his decision and even encouraged him. The unusual conversation with his boss inspired Ashish to kick-start his entrepreneurial dream. After the drunk text incident, Ashish assembled his college buddies, and together, they went on a journey to become the kings of the ticketing industry in India. According to a report in The Times Of India, Book My Show is worth around Rs. 7,500 crore.
According to a report on India.com, Ashish Hemrajani was chilling while sitting under a tree during his vacation in South Africa when the idea of Book My Show crossed his mind. The entrepreneur was listening to old songs on the radio, and an advertisement came during the show which was related to the tickets for a rugby game. It was when he decided to build a platform for booking movies in India. The idea clicked, and due to the lack of major competitors in the same space, Book My Show has become one of the biggest companies in India. Talking about Ashish Hemrajani's wealth, as per multiple reports, he has an estimated net worth of Rs. 3,000 crore.
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In September 2024, Book My Show broke the headlines when an advocate, Amit Vyas accused the company of enabling black marketing of Coldplay's concert tickets. For the unversed, Coldplay is going to perform at Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium from January 19 to 21, 2025. According to a report in the Business Standard, Coldplay's concert tickets were originally sold in a price range of Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 35,000. However, soon, the tickets appeared on Viagogo for resale at a whopping price of Rs. 1.5 lakhs. Although the matter is still under investigation, it will be interesting to see whether Book My Show continues to free itself from the severe charges of black marketing.
What are your thoughts on Ashish Hemrajani's success story and Book My Show's dominance in India's ticketing space? Let us know.
Also Read: Who Is Nirmal Kumar Minda: Garage Owner To Gurugram's Richest Person With Rs. 30,800 Crore Net Worth
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