Are Indians going to the movies to escape slowdown? PVR's CEO thinks so

If Gianchandani's prediction is correct, PVR would be defying a slump that has dented demand for almost everything from 7-cent cookies to cars

Cinemas are seeing brisk business even as India’s economy slows to a six-year low and unemployment swells, according to PVR Ltd., the nation’s largest operator of multi-screen theatres.

Ever since the box-office hit Kabir Singh released in June, even films with small budgets or less-recognizable actors are drawing the crowds, Kamal Gianchandani, chief executive officer at PVR Pictures, said in an interview this month. Results for July-September will “definitely surprise a lot of people,” he said, declining to elaborate.

“I think the slowdown is helping the cinema business,” Gianchandani said. “There is negativity around and people want to escape it.”
 

If Gianchandani’s