Hope ad revenue to recover fully to pre-Covid level by Q4: PVR CEO

PVR opened a six-screen multiplex on Monday in Pune, a market that accounts for its 16-17 per cent revenue from the western region. The multiplex chain is on track to open 125 screens by investing Rs 400 crore in the current financial year (FY23), Gautam Dutta, chief executive officer, PVR, said during an interview with Viveat Susan Pinto. Dutta also threw light on PVR's festival season advertising prospects, second-half content calendar, and total theatrical business expected from Brahmastra. Edited Excerpts:

The festival season, an important period for cinemas, has arrived. Do you expect to touch pre-Covid levels in terms of advertising revenue during this period?

Advertising has taken time to recover in cinemas. We recovered to the extent of 62-63 per cent of pre-Covid levels in terms of advertising in the first quarter (Q1) of the current financial year. We hope to move up in Q3, further close to pre-Covid levels. We will be at 75-80 per cent of pre-Covid advertising numbers in Q3. By Q4, we hope to recover fully to pre-Covid levels.

Is  lack of good content hurting the cinema business? How does the second half of the year appear to be from a content perspective?

Big releases have been line-up during the festival period across languages, including Vikram Vedha, starring Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan in Hindi, and Mani Ratnam-directed Ponniyin Selvan: 1 (PS:1) in Tamil, both releasing on September 30. The dubbed versions of PS:1 will be available in Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam. Nine Bengali movies will be released between this week and the next to cash in on the Durga Puja period. That would get our east circuit going. There are big movies in October, including Amitabh Bachchan’s Goodbye; Telugu films, such as Godfather and The Ghost, too, are lined up for release. November and December will also see big movies being released across film industries, including Hollywood. In other words, there is no dearth of content. It is there. The question is whether it will click with the audience.

PVR had indicated that it would open 125 screens in FY23 -- most openings in a year for the chain. Where do you stand on this guidance at the moment?

We are on track to open 125 screens at an investment of Rs 400 crore in FY23. As many as 14 screens were opened in the first quarter of the year. Around 90 screens are currently in the fit-out stage. There will be more lined up. The third quarter will be heavy in terms of screen additions.

How has Brahmastra done for film exhibitors, including PVR. What is the latest update on box-office collections of the film?

Brahmastra has done well for the cinema industry. It has put the Boycott-Bollywood movement to rest. The latest number that has come in for the domestic market is Rs 250 crore in terms of net box-office collection for Brahmastra. Overall, if you add up both domestic and overseas collections, it has crossed Rs 400 crore. During the National Cinema Day on September 23, Brahmastra benefitted from the invitation price of Rs 75 (per head) launched on the occasion. The current week will be the last week for Brahmastra's theatrical run. Tickets for the film have been priced at Rs 100 flat (per head) to juice out the last leg of its theatrical release. The film should close with a net box-office collection of Rs 260-275 crore.

Given that this is below Brahmastra's Rs 410-crore production budget, will you still say that its theatrical run has been successful? The box-office collections of RRR and KGF, for instance, far exceeded their budgets...

Brahmastra was released at a time when Bollywood was being written off for various reasons. The film has reversed that trend. It has demonstrated that there are viewers for good content. However, there will be weeks when content will not click with the audience and business will be down. Overall, our business remains robust from both expansion and content-creation perspectives. Some of the best minds are at work in the cinema industry. If a film does not do well, people go back to the drawing board to see how they can get it right in the next project.

Next month will be critical for the PVR-Inox merger as shareholders and creditors are slated to meet on October 11. When do you hope to close the transaction?

The merger is currently under the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) approval process. The first motion hearing took place in August. The meeting of shareholders and secured creditors is scheduled on October 11 for voting on the merger scheme. After that the second motion hearing will take place at the NCLT. The merger process may close by February-March next year.