Gone are the days of multiplexes. Now, it is time for Superplex, where you will find many screens of multi formats, all under one roof.
PVR once again has indulged in a mega property venture by bringing up Delhi’s biggest Superplex which houses as many as 12-screens and four formats including IMAX, 4DX, Playhouse, and two Luxe auditoriums which are high-end auditoriums.
The property will open for audience on November 15.
In 2014, PVR had launched the then new concept of a Superplex with the launch of Logix theatre, a 15-screen property in Noida with multiple formats.
Defining a Superplex, Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR Ltd, said, “Anything beyond 10 to 11 screens by definition becomes a Superplex. Also within that Superplex, we have four formats. It is not possible to have all four formats in a multiplex because there are not that many screens.”
That sounds similar to how PVR's arch rival Inox describes a 'megaplex.' The company had in October opened a 'megaplex' in Mumbai with an investment of up to Rs 60 crore.
Inox described a megaplex as a property that has multiple screens with multiple formats. Inox houses 11 screens with six different cinema formats under one roof with a seating capacity of 1,586 at Mumbai's Inorbit Mall.
The Dwarka presence
PVR invested Rs 62 crore in the Superplex in Vegas Mall, in Delhi’s Dwarka.
Explaining why Dwarka, Bijli said “it (Dwarka) is a massive space which has not been served for the longest time. This is why PVR decided to do a big format in Dwarka which is a huge market in terms of cinema going audience.”
With a seating capacity of 1,833 seats and four different formats, Bijli is hopeful of getting one million admissions in the first year.
Ticket prices at the Superplex will be around Rs 150-Rs 200 for a mainstream screen, Rs 300 to Rs 350 for an IMAX, Rs 450 for 4DX, Playhouse tickets will be Rs 200 and for Luxe it will be in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200.
The launch of Superplex has taken PVR’s screen count to 62 screens in 16 properties in New Delhi, and 244 screens across 56 properties in northern India.
“By the end of the financial year, we would have opened another 40 which will take us to 850 screens by the end of this financial year. We won’t reach 1,000 by next financial year but we can achieve the target at the cusp of 2021,” said Bijli.
“100 screens a year is what we are determined to deliver,” he added.
According to Bijli, the Superplex will be an attractive proposition for the advertisers “as it is, North India and metro cities always give a better yield and attraction. Second, it is in one of the largest residential colonies with 10-12 lakh population which has been unserved and of course we have multiple formats.”
After two Superplexes in the northern India, “PVR has plans to come up with another but in Bengaluru as south Indian cities also have a rich movie going culture,” said Bijli. However, he did not provide any launch date.
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