When movies connect, they go to another level: PVR Inox MD Ajay Bijli

PVR Inox remains focused on delivering exceptional experiences and is confident in its strong business outlook for 2025, said PVR Inox MD

At 1,745 screens, PVR Inox is the largest multiplex chain in India. But the Rs 6,200 crore (2023-24 revenue) chain has seen its stock being hammered by the markets. The buzz is that the cinema business is in trouble. Its managing director, Ajay Bijli, in a quick chat with Vanita Kohli-Khandekar, talks about the state of the movie business and his prognosis for 2025. Edited excerpts:

 

There was only a slight fall in overall box-office collections (3 per cent) and ticket sales in 2024. So why is the market so bearish on PVR Inox?

 

We would not like to comment on stock price movements, as they are influenced by various external factors beyond the company’s fundamentals.

 

PVR Inox remains focused on delivering exceptional experiences and is confident in its strong business outlook for 2025.

 

What is the state of the movie business?

 

When the movies connect, they go to another level. Pushpa 2: The Rule has done Rs 1,100 crore net BO. This is the post-pandemic era, and we have the highest-grossing Indian film ever. This is a very important indicator. People are coming out to watch movies. What is lacking is the consistency of movies every weekend. That hasn’t happened over the almost 11/12 quarters since cinemas have opened after the pandemic.

 

In the financial year ending 2024-25, the dent in the business is primarily due to Hollywood, which was affected by the writers' strike. Hollywood still represents about 10 per cent of the overall BO, but for my circuit, it is around 35 per cent because our cinemas are in prime areas and 14 per cent of our circuit is premium large formats, like Imax, 4DX, ICE, and PXL.

 

In Hindi, none of the big stars — Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, or Ranbir Kapoor — released any movies this year. And yet, the difference in the Hindi collections is very insignificant.

 

For 2025-26 (FY26), we have Avatar 3: Fire and Ash, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, many of the Marvel movies, and films from Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, and possibly Shah Rukh Khan. The slate is looking good. One indicator is that people are already jostling for (release) dates.

 

Many other cinemas, such as Tamil and Malayalam, have done exceptionally well. Are chains like PVR Inox equipped to capture the bounty?

 

The South is still dominated by single screens. So, the growth goes to the single screens. But if you look at Karnataka, we have a 60-70 per cent market share. In Kerala, we have just opened multiplexes in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. We have about 573 screens in the entire South.

 

But given that our occupancies and average ticket prices are higher, despite the fact that there are plenty of single screens, we still end up getting a good amount of market share from there.

 

Streaming, a force to reckon with in Hindi and English, hasn’t yet taken off in the South and other parts. As it spreads to other languages, will those markets behave differently?

 

Consumers do everything. They will watch television shows and reels and then go out. They have a huge appetite. The way content is being consumed, it’s not cannibalising.

 

The reason why the occupancies and the number of people have come down is because, ultimately, we (theatres) are designed to only show films. Our whole infrastructure is to show films. If the consistency, quality, and number of movies don’t come, then obviously, they will consume content somewhere else. In FY26, they won’t need to go elsewhere.

 

Having said that, there is a certain segment whose mobility has reduced after the pandemic. But there are lots of people whose mobility has increased because they were sick of being at home. Therefore, the mall footfall has gone up.