Must-watch films from Hollywood

PVR is spending good money to get the Hollywood films that some critics consider must-watches.

Okay, by now every film exhibitor has discovered that even English-speaking Indian film-goers are sold on Bollywood films "" at least the cinema aimed specifically at them.

But PVR, the Delhi-based multiplex player, isn't going to let movie-goers down who yearn for the best that Hollywood has to offer (the word to note here is "best", as opposed to some of the twaddle that washes ashore every now and then).

So even as it rubs its palms in anticipation of the next big Hindi blockbuster, since that's where all the bucks are made, the distribution arm of PVR has acquired rights to a set of 15 alternative films for a grand sum of Rs 7.5 crore.

Yes, PVR Pictures has acquired the rights to Munich, Pride and Prejudice, TransAmerica, Being Cyrus, Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, Mistress of Spices, Man About Town and Mixed Doubles, among several others.

While films like TransAmerica are Oscar-nominated, Being Cyrus and Mistress of Spices feature leading Bollywood actors such as Saif Ali Khan and Aishwarya Rai, respectively.

These movies, to be distributed and exhibited by PVR Cinemas in India, will cheer film fans who complain that Indian films are crowding foreign films off the local screens, making them resort to DVDs and the like.

Their complaint is not without cause. After all, the very concept of the multi-theatre film centre "" the "multiplex" "" was that smaller halls could play films that smaller audiences are interested in, while the large halls play the blockbusters.

This way, varied tastes could be kept satisfied. Over time, however, the shortage of screens pushed niche cinema off the screens almost everywhere except film festivals.

PVR Pictures' head Sanjeev Kumar Bijli is glad to help bring back a bit of the original Multiplex idea. Says Bijli, "PVR has reasonable occupancy rates, but this move is to give a substantial boost to the exhibition market and thereby develop an audience for such films."

The effort helps PVR maintain an image as a company always on the lookout for good content that would appeal to a particular set of film fans.

Of course, the acquisitions are quite a mixed bag, and it is quite possible that they attract several cinema goers who would ordinarily have gone for a regular Bollywood flick. The very mix of films gives the executive director of PVR a strong dose of confidence about the films' success.

"We believe that most of these movies will get us an occupancy rate of 45-50 per cent, garnering upto 30 per cent return-on-investment," Bijli continues.

As PVR Cinemas, a chain with 50 screens operational nationwide, gears up to satisfy followers of Hollywood programming content, fans of English movies should rejoice.

Unless, of course, a Hindi blockbuster storms its way into these halls as well "" as is known to happen all too often, India being India, and market forces being market forces.