PVR Inox looks to drive up business of smaller films with movie passport launch

PVR Inox has launched a movie passport to drive business of smaller films in theatres.

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Multiplex operator PVR Inox has launched a new offering called movie passport to drive up business for smaller films in theatres. This comes just ahead of the company's September quarter results, scheduled to be released on October 19.

While star-led movies or films made on a large scale have seen higher traction versus pre-Covid levels, small and medium-sized films are seeing uncertainty in terms of box office performance and footfalls.

“Our move is to make small and medium films really popular, creating more stickiness. We want to remove friction around pricing. Right now, the frequency (to visit a cinema) is once a month. We want to see if we can get the audience to walk into cinemas 5-6 times a month,” Gautam Dutta, Co-CEO, PVR INOX, told Moneycontrol. “On National Cinema Day, more people watched smaller films because the pricing friction was less. And that's how we recorded 12.5 lakh people.”

The company is opening with 20,000-25,000 passports. “We will study the consumption and then roll it out on a massive scale. We will see the first month and then reopen it for a much larger audience base,” Dutta said.

Also read: PVR Inox to launch movie subscription plan to drive new audience in cinemas

The frequency of success for  medium budget films has dropped since the pandemic phase of COVID ended, said an Elara Capital note released in August. This, the note said, is due to the nature of content and the audience wanting to spend more on tickets … only if content is compelling and worth the experience.

“Two Hindi films, which are small and medium budget, have reported collections of more than Rs 100 crore since February 2022 compared to 13 films pre-Covid (in FY19-20). We do not expect this trend to reverse... However, even a minor change in box office collections of these films would drive better occupancy levels,” the note said.

The note added that the number of Hindi films releasing in cinemas has dropped 22 percent in the post-pandemic phase to 14 films every quarter in FY23 from an average of 18 every quarter in FY19. This has increased the dependence on large-budget Hindi films, which currently contribute around 82 percent of box office sales versus 44 percent in FY20. “Dependence on large films becomes a riskier scenario,” the note added.

Big screen pull

A recent survey of 5,000 cinemagoers by online ticketing and entertainment platform BookMyShow found that 90 percent of people pick movies as their go-to option when it comes to out-of-home experiences when choosing among activities such as shopping, live gigs, adventure outings and more.

Around 26 percent of GenZs (people born between 1996 and 2010) and 36 percent of millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) think of stepping into a movie theatre every single week. Also, 63 percent of the respondents have movies on their mind at least once every fortnight, the survey said.

Also read: PVR-INOX recorded highest-ever monthly customers of nearly 2 crore in August

PVR Inox’s movie passport

PVR Inox’s passport plan can be bought for a minimum subscription period of three months.

Also read: Shah Rukh Khan delivers a blockbuster September quarter for PVR Inox

The subscription is valid on weekdays, when average occupancy is between 24-27 percent versus 41 percent on weekends. “Pan-India, annual average occupancy for exhibitors for weekdays is around 17 percent. Discounted ticket prices due to the subscription plan may take occupancy towards 20-25 percent on those particular days. This will also impact positively on overall occupancy,” said Karan Taurani, senior vice-president, Elara Capital.

Through the subscription, PVR Inox is targeting three audience segments. “Homemakers, senior citizens, and youth. These are the three big categories who will drive footfalls using the passport. Senior citizens, this is one group which has been careful about spending and among them we expect the passport to be popular. Currently, senior citizens account for 8-10 percent of the overall audience pool of PVR Inox," the Co-CEO said.

Also read: PVR Inox expects blockbuster Q2 after record footfalls, collections in August

Taurani expects a potential revenue uptick of of 3-6 percent for PVR Inox. "Profitability may have a bigger positive impact, as EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) (pre-IndAS) can potentially be upgraded by 7-15 percent, helped by higher F&B revenue. All other costs remain the same in this promotional offer. Around 41 percent of costs including rentals, employee cost, overheads and electricity cost are fixed in nature," he said.