PVR and Inox to invest Rs 450 cr in FY24, adding 150 screens with focus on south India

He said that PVR has about four to five superplexes and Inox has around three to four. "Making superplexes depends on the mall size, location. The new cinema in Bengaluru has high consumption of movies of all languages. We are opening another 15 screen in Bengaluru and another 14 screen in Pune. So, two more superplexes are coming up this year. These kind of megaplexes can be built in metros where movie consumption is high and multiple languages movies are consumed."

He said that South India has the highest share at 32 percent in terms of screen count. The theatre chain currently has 158 screens in 25 cinemas in Bengaluru and 201 screens in 35 cinemas in Karnataka. The company in South India has a total of 542 screens in 96 properties. In total, the multiplex chain has 1,702 screens.

"Going forward we would like to concentrate more on South India as consumption is higher as opposed to rest of the country. But this year our rollout of 150 screens is mixed," said Bijli.

He added that they are seeing stabalisation in box office. PVR Inox had earlier this year said that it will wait for the box office to stabalise before taking over the next set of screens for fit-out.

PVR INOX to delay fresh handover of screens due to volatility in box office business

Fit-out means taking the handover from a developer and starting the interior work.

"We have seen good May, June and July. People are coming back to cinemas. The lineup looks strong. We are looking at business stabalising in this and next quarter. Hence, we are rolling out screens in catchments with high propensity to watch films," the Executive Director said.

Promotion offer on popcorns

The company had also recently offered sharp discount on food and beverages and Bijli said that they will keep coming with promotions.

Will PVR-Inox’s F&B strategy pay off and draw in the crowds?

"While I am not sure if we can do any such discount in the future because this itself is a great offer (On July 12, PVR-Inox announced a slash in prices of snacks with combos for Rs 99 on weekdays from 9 am to 6 pm and unlimited popcorn and Pepsi refills on weekends), we will keep coming up with promotions to let more customers come to theatres. We are looking at various promotion for tickets and F&B. The share of F&B is 25 percent to overall revenues and the idea is to increase strike rate. The idea is that at lower price it will increase consumption. If people buy more it will have a positive impact on revenues," Bijli said.