Shutdown won’t change love for theatres: MD, PVR | Economic Times

Mumbai: Ajay Bijli, chairman and managing director of India’s largest multiplex chain PVR, is hopeful of a resurgence in one of the worst-hit sectors due to the pandemic, once the government allows cinema halls to reopen. He said the disease outbreak has shown that PVR will have to diversify as it can’t rely on a single revenue stream but expansion remains on track.Bijli said the shutdown won’t change film-going habits and that the company is ready to welcome patrons.“For Indian consumers, movies have always been a staple form of entertainment and they love to go out and watch films. I don’t think that five or six months of being deprived of it is going to change or undo the habit of decades,” Bijli said.He also pointed out that people are not hardwired to stay home and footfalls are back to 90% of pre-Covid times on the weekends in some Delhi shopping malls.Revenue is down to zero but tackling the disease takes top priority, he said.“We were the first ones to be asked to close down, even before the official lockdown happened in mid-March, and it’s looking like we will be one of the last few activities to be allowed to resume,” said Bijli. “Of course we are very badly affected, but it is also a very devastating disease. So while livelihood is one thing, the lives also have to be taken care of and whatever measures have to be taken, I am okay with that.”There was no government assistance despite the multiplex industry’s repeated requests.“Cinemas have closed down all over the world, but a lot of help was also given by the governments in various countries, be it in the form of furloughs where the employees were compensated by the government or in terms of VAT (value added tax) or GST (goods and services tax) being abolished or brought down dramatically once you open,” he pointed out. “A lot of soft loans were also extended to the sector, but we didn't get any support, which bothers me a lot.”PVR is ready to reopen theatres with distancing and other hygiene norms.“We have the new SOPs and are ready for that,” Bijli said. “After that we will come to reinvention mode.”He also plans to continue with expansion plans.“If we hadn't shut down, we would have done 100 screens last fiscal, but we finished with 88,” he said. “In fact, we got licences for the rest of the 12 as we wanted to open before March 31. Once we open, we will be opening 15-20 new screens.”Bijli said he understands why producers sell their movies to streaming platforms without a theatrical release--they need to recoup funds. This will change once halls reopen.“I still feel it is an aberration, because once the cinemas open, economically it’s too much money to be left on the table if they bypass the theatrical window completely,” he said. “Moreover, in a country like India, where 1,500 films release every year, if 10-20 movies have gone while we were shut, that's fine.”According to Bijli, the pandemic has challenged the conventional wisdom of core competence and doing one thing but doing it well.“We need to look at what else we can do with the PVR brand,” he said. “We have 100 million people coming into PVR cinemas every year. The brand is well recognised and backed by some great investors and has got a strong management team and track record. But I can't do it knee jerk. I have to be very careful how we think this through.”For PVR, Bijli said the biggest task will be building consumer confidence.“All the surveys are telling us that youngsters are eager to come back, but regardless of the demographic, it is our job to make sure they should feel very very safe to come to our screens,” he said. “I have told my team that PVR should be at the top of the mind for consumers for safety and quality. Like what Oberoi and Four Seasons are for hospitality or Emirates and Singapore Airlines for aviation. This is what PVR has to do for the cinema business.”PVR just completed a Rs 300 crore rights issue, which was oversubscribed 2.2 times.Bijli said the soon to be launched drive-in theatre in Mumbai had been “on the cards for a very long time... So it was pre-Covid and not a knee jerk reaction. I still think my core business is cinemas and drive-in as a model is yet to be tested.”