‘People love going out and watching movies, it’s still a great social outing’
NEW DELHI: As he celebrates 20 years of running PVR Ltd, India’s largest movie theatre chain that operates 569 screens across 123 locations in 48 cities, chairman and MD Ajay Bijli’s motto remains the same: the customer must never feel shortchanged by the theatre operator. In an interview, the poster boy of the multiplex revolution in Indian cinema talks about why movie theatres in the country should survive the advent of digital platforms. Edited excerpts:
How accepting are you of being tagged the pioneer of the multiplex revolution in India?
I’m very uncomfortable with it. There were a lot of people trying to build a multiplex at that time. I was just lucky to be the first one off the block. I found the property and was able to get a joint venture in place (between Bijli’s then single-screen owned Priya Exhibitors Pvt Ltd and Australian entertainment company Village Roadshow Ltd). I was also very fortunate because PVR Anupam (the first multiplex theatre in India) was in south Delhi, a catchment that I understood very well.
Why did you see multiplexes as an opportunity for India?
I was running a singlescreen theatre, Priya, and I could sense the volatility — without blockbusters, which you anyway couldn’t have all 52 weeks, the cinema used to run empty. Multiplexes were prevalent globally and there were 4-5 films getting released every week. I was very keen that we should be able to give people the choice of all the movies that get released one week with good sound, projection and hospitality under one roof.
What have been the changes in the film industry in 20 years?
Content is improving a lot. You have films that can be played in fewer cinemas, say Pink, or Tanu Weds Manu Returns and the Salman, Aamir and Shah Rukh Khanstarrers that release in 4,000 screens. English movies now do much better and penetrate into smaller towns by getting dubbed. The big change is now there is real estate available to build world-class multiplexes. Tax rules are a very big disappointment for me, nowhere across the world do cinema tickets get as heavily taxed as in India. We’re waiting for GST; if it comes in at a palatable rate, it’ll be a big change.
There was a lot of talk of PVR being acquired by the Chinese group Wanda.
I have no idea where that is coming from. I thought this Warburg Pincus deal would at least put those rumours to rest. (In January this year, private equity firm Warburg Pincus bought a 14% stake in PVR for ₹820 crore).
How would you address the crisis of declining footfalls and the advent of digital platforms?
Actually, footfalls have not been declining. Theatres still represent 60-65% of revenues. Cinemas still have exclusivity for at least two to three months, depending on how big the movie is. Secondly, people love going out and watching movies, it’s still a great social outing.