Beam it down

CINEMA: India's largest cinema exhibitor is all set to replicate its success story in smaller towns.

One of the largest cinema exhibitors in India, PVR Cinemas, recently announced its foray into tier-II and tier-III cities in India.

The Rs 600-crore company, which had a turnover of Rs 107 crore last year, has kickstarted an initiative called PVR Talkies in Latur and Aurangabad (the theatres will open next week). And what an initiative it is. By 2009, PVR Talkies will"" hold your breath "" introduce as many as 200 screens in 13 states, covering 70 cities.

Though Ashish Shukla, CEO, PVR Talkies, is tightlipped about the overall investment, he discloses that the first two cities took Rs 3 crore each.

"When we first started our multiplex in 1997 in New Delhi's Saket area, we hoped that some day we would be able to extend the concept to the smaller towns and cities of India too," says Ajay Bijli, chairman and managing director, PVR.

"We've finally managed to crack the concept in smaller towns at a price point vastly different from the urban centres," he adds.

He's right. Since the operating expenditures and real estate prices are drastically lower than the metros, tickets have been priced reasonably, at Rs 40-50.

Shukla says that keeping the prices lower and still offering a "cinema enhancing experience" to audiences was the biggest challenge for the company.

"The concept was sown almost two years ago and tremendous amount of research was conducted before we could start implementing the ground work," he says.

The PVR Talkies idea goes hand-in-hand with the company's adoption of digital films. This involves the replacement of old celluloid-strip cans with digitised satellite transmission for theatres to download and project onto their screens.

This way, smaller towns can get to show the same films showing in bigger places instead of waiting months for celluloid print hand-me-downs.

Picture quality is superior too, and in the medium term, it's a whole lot cheaper. "The distribution division will be a great value proposition for the film industry," says Sanjeev Kumar, executive director, PVR.

Little wonder that residents of Aurangabad and Latur are excited. The new cinema experience will be a stark contrast to the boring theatres and cinema halls that they've been visiting all these years.

PVR Talkies' multiplexes at both Aurangabad and Latur have three screens each, with a total seating capacity of about 1,150 seats.

But it's the glamour quotient that'll wow residents more than anything. With reclining seats, Dolby digital sound systems, a customised food court and special kids zone (not to mention Internet access), moviegoers in far-flung places are in for an experience.