See no threat from Netflix or Amazon Prime in India: PVR Chief

Cinema exhibition business will not be in threat from video on-demand platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime that launched in India in 2016, Kamal Gianchandani, CEO PVR Pictures, said in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol on the sidelines of launch of its on-demand theater booking app Vkaao.   “Cinema is the ultimate form of watching a film out of home. At home you have choices of a television or DTH, etc. Out of home cinema watching is the ultimate experience. Cinema is the exclusive window when you want to watch a film at the time of release. You cannot watch exclusive movies on such platforms. We will continue to see increase in footfalls,” said Gianchandani. Comparing with a market such as the US, the PVR CEO said that India will see a growth of both platforms. “Cinema business has been consistently growing in US, which is the most saturated market in the world when it comes to such online video platforms. In the US, they are not building new cinemas. Instead they are reducing cinemas but cinema footfalls business are still going up,” he said.World's largest online movies on-demand platform Netflix registered a 25 percent increase in their subscribers last quarter from a year before. It currently has 93 million total subscribers. Amazon Prime which launched in India is offering movies at Rs 499 a year. Netflix is offering its basic plan at Rs 500 a month.  "Even I am a Netflix subscriber. Subscriptions for online platform are also going up every year in the US. It will be a same phenomenon in India. Cinema will co-exist as it is the exclusive window when you want to watch a film at the time of release.” he added.In a move that will fill its weekday's unused inventory at cinema halls, PVR Cinemas launched an on demand theatre booking app called Vkaao on Friday. It allows users to pre-book a complete theatre with a minimum audience size of 20-40 people depending upon the location. The price per ticket remains the same as a regular movie show. VKaao currently has about 500 movie titles on its platform. In the United States, an online startup Tugg also runs a similar platform which allows users to book their events and screenings at various theatre chains such as AMC, Alamo, Cinemark and Regal in the country.  harsimran.julka@nw18.com