Can You Take Photos at a BookMyShow Event or Concert in India?

Yes, you can usually take photos on your phone at an event you booked through BookMyShow, but the rules come from the organiser and the venue, not from the app. Big concerts tend to allow phone cameras and ban professional gear, while some shows and festivals ban photography and recording altogether unless the promoter says otherwise. The sensible habit is to read the terms on the event page before you go, because they differ from one show to the next.

BookMyShow is an Indian ticketing platform headquartered in Mumbai, and its app is free to download. It sells tickets for movies, concerts, sports, plays and other live events. That mix is exactly why there is no single photo rule. A Friday night film in a multiplex, a stand-up show in a small auditorium and a stadium concert all have different owners, and each one sets its own terms.

What the rules usually look like

For the large concerts that come to India, the pattern is fairly consistent. Before the Coldplay shows in Mumbai in January 2025, BookMyShow shared security guidelines that allowed only phone cameras and prohibited professional cameras and video equipment. The same list said only wallets or small sling bags were allowed inside, with handbags and backpacks kept out. So if you were planning to carry a DSLR in a backpack, that plan was dead at the gate.

Other events go further. The ticket page for Bangalore Open Air says no photography, audio or video recording is allowed during the event unless the promoter states otherwise. That is a very different promise from a concert where everyone films the chorus. Neither is wrong, but you only find out by reading, and the line is usually near the bottom of the page under terms and conditions.

There is also the practical side of getting in. For the Ed Sheeran show in Mumbai, the organiser’s notes asked for photo ID matching the name on the booking and said the whole party had to arrive together with the person whose phone held the tickets. That kind of rule decides when your group stands at the gate together, and it is also when the first photos of the night get taken.

Why group photos from a night out go missing

Most people do follow the rules, and still end up with a messy set of photos. Ten friends go to a screening or a concert. The pictures that matter are often the ones outside the actual performance, such as the queue, the selfie at the entrance, the dinner before, the auto ride back. Those photos sit in ten different phone galleries, and nobody collects them.

The cinema is a good example. This week, a trade report on the opening of Ramayana, which released on 5 November 2026, described bookings on BookMyShow crossing 1.10 lakh tickets in an hour during the extended Diwali holiday. Whole families and friend groups are heading to theatres, and they stand in lobbies and in front of posters taking photos on different phones. A week later, someone asks in the group chat who has the good one. Everyone says they will send it, and a few photos arrive, shrunk and out of order.

Ways to put everyone’s photos in one place

WhatsApp is the default because everyone already has it, and it is fine for a handful of pictures. The catch is that it compresses photos, so the copy that arrives is softer than the original, and a busy group chat buries pictures within a day. It works for quick sharing but poorly as an archive.

Google Photos shared albums are a solid option if your group is comfortable with Google accounts and everyone remembers to add their pictures. Google Drive folders keep original files and are easy to set up, though they become a plain pile of files, and finding the three pictures you appear in means scrolling through hundreds. Both work well for a small, tidy group, and plenty of people use them happily.

Rollout is built for the case where the group is bigger or less organised. It is a free app on Android and iPhone. One person creates an event and shares a single QR code or link, guests scan it, install the app and join, and the photos from every guest’s phone land in one shared album as they are taken, in full quality. Each person can also take a selfie and use face search to see only the photos they appear in, which saves the scrolling. For a night out with friends it may be more than you need, but for a college fest, a big birthday or an office outing it saves a lot of chasing.

A free Rollout event lasts 30 days, which is plenty for a group that wants the photos sorted before the week is over. Bigger paid events exist for larger occasions.

If you are the one running the event

Plenty of events on BookMyShow are put on by small organisers, such as comedy nights, workshops, music evenings, meetups and college festivals. If that is you, photos are part of what people remember about your event, and they also help you promote the next one. Decide beforehand what your photo policy is, write it in the event description, and say it again at the entrance. People are far happier to follow a rule they were told about in advance.

Then decide how the pictures will come back to you. A hired photographer will give you a folder of edited shots, and guests will take their own on top of that. With Rollout, organisers can upload from a computer too, including the photographer’s pictures, so the official shots and the guests’ pictures can live in the same album. Guests then find themselves through the selfie search instead of messaging you for pictures a week later.

A few simple habits before you go

Read the terms on your event page and screenshot the photo and bag rules, since phone signal near big venues can be poor. Pack light, because many concerts allow only a small sling bag or wallet. Charge your phone fully, and remember that filming the whole show drains the battery long before the encore. Ask one friend to be the person who collects pictures, or set up the shared album before the day so nobody has to organise it afterwards.

Finally, be kind to the people behind you. Holding a phone high for an entire song blocks the view, and most people would rather have you take a few good shots and then put the phone down. You will probably remember the night better, and the best pictures are usually the ones taken in the first ten minutes anyway.