Multiplex player PVR Inox is expecting a strong September quarter after it recorded its highest-ever monthly footfalls and box office in August.
“Business in August points us to a strong quarter (September quarter),” said Gautam Dutta, Co-CEO, PVR Inox, told Moneycontrol, as Sunny Deol-starrer Gadar 2, Akshay Kumar's OMG 2, Rajinikanth's Jailer and Dreamgirl 2 brought audiences to cinema halls in droves in August.
“If we look at Jailer's business at PVR Inox, it did about Rs 67 crore GBOC and 27 lakh admits (footfalls) and total all India is more in line of Rs 370-odd crore.”
Dutta expects September to be blockbuster month as well, with Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan and Prabhas’ Salaar ready for release.
“ It (Salaar) is going to have the biggest opening ever at the Indian box office. If that comes true then that leads us to a strong festive season. Smaller films like Ghoomer have also started to do well because of the strong momentum due to movies like Gadar 2, OMG 2," he said.
The company recorded 1.9 crore guests and a gross box office collection (GBOC) of Rs 532 crore in August, the company said in a release on September 1.
The multiplex operator on August 15 recorded 13 lakh footfalls and earned GBOC of Rs 41.4 crore, surpassing its previous single-day record in quick succession. On August 13, it had registered 12.8 lakh footfalls with a GBOC of Rs 39.5 crore.
The second quarter may turn out to be an exceptionally strong quarter, said Jinesh Joshi, Research Analyst, Prabhudas Lilladher.
“In the post-pandemic phase, Q1 FY23 was the best-ever quarter for PVR-Inox with footfalls of 4.3 crore. The total (footfall) count for Q2 FY24 is likely to stand at 3.9 crore, only 9 percent lower than Q1 FY23,” Joshi said.
On Hindi box office recovery, estimated to be down 20 percent from the pre-Covid level, Dutta said that after Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh-starrer Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, there is new optimism in Bollywood.
"There has been work at the creative end and the new content will be in line with what consumers want. Bollywood is not going anywhere," Dutta said, as obituaries of Hindi film industry have been written following a prolonged box-office slump.
Screen expansion
The company is also focusing on expansion, eyeing the vibrant south market. After launching the ICE screen format in Bengaluru in a 12-screen "superplex" (theatres with more than 10 screens of different formats), the multiplex player plans to launch another in the city.
ICE screen format features LED panels on each side of an auditorium to fill the moviegoer’s peripheral vision.
South strong
"South India has been a strong market for us. The audience's propensity to watch movies is huge there, their ability to pay for a good experience is strong. So, they have both great value and volume and they consume five languages, so the flow of content helps us to consolidate in South India," Dutta said.
"Our endeavor is always to take up first a south project but we are tenants and not mall developers. So, we follow the retail revolution.”
Dutta said the company was looking for scale and couldn’t opt for three-screen multiplexes in southern cities. The company needed a much larger multiplex base.
“In Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu, we expect PVR Inox's box-office share to increase but in Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, there are huge number of single screens still operating,” he said.
Dutta is confident of garnering a bigger market share in Karnataka, especially in the capital city of Bengaluru, and in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai. “But given the propensity of single screens in southern India, as long as we can hold our market share and keep gradually moving up that seems like a more optimum growth path for the company," he said.
Premium portfolio
The company is also looking to grow its premium screen portfolio.
"We are looking at rolling out two more ICE format screens with the fourth such screen in Mumbai and a fifth one in Bengaluru,” he said.
They would evaluate consumer reaction and then plan further expansion. The premium format accounted for 13.5 percent of the total screens and the target was to take it to 15-18 percent, Dutta said.
Pathaan, Bholaa and Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani were among the Indian movies released in ICE format. Jawan, Salaar, Tiger 3 and Dunki, too, would be released in the same format.
"We are playing lot of content on ICE-format and the plan is to play 35 content pieces every year," Dutta said.
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