PVR planning multiplexes in Chennai, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam: Sanjeev Bijli. Gurgaon-based PVR is making its presence felt, literally, across the country. Having set up its first multiplex way back in 1997 in Saket, South Delhi, it has managed to scale up the number to 50 screens.
While the growth has been a tad slow so far, considering that only 50 screens have been set up in almost a decade, PVR is now, however, switching to the fourth gear. The company recently raised Rs 150 crore via an IPO and will be investing in increasing the screen count to 200 in the next few years.
The investment lined up for the expansion is high at approximately Rs 400 crore.
Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director of PVR, shares his insights with Business Standard on the multiplex scenario.
PVR seemed to have focused on the north of India for quite some time. The company is now enhancing its presence in the south as well. How is the south Indian audience different from its northern counterparts?
There is a greater propensity to watch movies in south India. It has been noted that the per capita visitation to a theatre is high in the south when compared to the north. Therefore, while a viewer in the south may visit the theatre 10-11 times a year, in the north it may be 5-6 times a year.
Besides, as a multiplex operator, one can exhibit only Hindi and English movies in the north. But in the south, the audience is equally good for local language movies as well. In fact, there is more inclination towards Hindi movies rather than English movies in the north in contrast to the south Indian audience that has an equal number of patrons for Hindi, English as well as local language movies. A case in point is West Delhi where the ratio between English movie viewing and Hindi movie viewing is 10:90.
So what are the company's plans with regard to setting up more screens in the south?
While we already have some presence in Hyderabad and Bangalore, we are looking at more sites in these cities. In fact, India's largest multiplex with 11 screens has been set up by us in Bangalore. We will also be expanding to Chennai this year where we'll be setting up a seven-screen multiplex. The other cities that we are looking at in the south include Coimbatore, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.
It's been quite some time since the multiplex trend started in India. Has the profile of its patrons changed with time or is it still skewed towards the youth?
Majority of our audience continues to be in the age group of 18-26. However, we are trying to change this by exhibiting different kinds of movies, including mass-market ones. Our initiative to display multilingual movies has also been taken up to reach the aforesaid end.
Do you think that the cost factor is a deterrent in making this happen as the occupancy rates at multiplexes continue to be 45-55 per cent?
The ticket rates vary from city to city. Besides, in some cities we have adopted the flexi-pricing method, wherein based on either the day or the time of the day we vary the price points. So we even offer tickets at Rs 50, with the maximum being Rs 150. However, some states do not allow flexi-pricing. Ideally, we would like to adopt this method of pricing across India.
PVR has used the services of different design specialists for its multiplex in different cities. Is this a conscious attempt to avoid replicating the environment across all areas of operations?
Yes. We have used the services of different design specialists ranging from London-based Jestico & Whiles to even our in-house team. We would like the ambience at each multiplex to reflect the culture of the city. For instance, we have used red in Hyderabad to represent its bright and colourful environment. In Delhi, we have used black and blue.
