Thronging theatres has been a prized pastime for movie-crazed and star-smitten Indians for decades. There were times when tickets used to sell in ‘black’ outside those ubiquitous single-screen theatres, which are now virtually extinct in big cities and even some smaller towns. The credit for that primarily goes to Ajay Bijli-owned PVR, which started as Priya Village Roadshow in 1995 in Delhi. The multiplex chain’s aggressive expansion made going to the movies an even more happening affair. From better screen quality to gourmet food, it has completely transformed the movie-watching experience over the last two and a half decades. But the pandemic and the rise of over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ Hotstar have cast a shadow on the continuity of PVR’s historically stupendous growth. The first two quarters of the post-pandemic year ending March 2023 haven’t been as impressive as the pre-pandemic phases for India’s largest movie-theatre chain. People seem less enthusiastic about returning to theatres as they are getting better-quality content on their screens at home for a fraction of the cost of visiting a theatre. Blame the atrociously priced instant popcorn and soft drinks and the plummeting quality of Bollywood movies. Or the high costs of the entire movie business—from production expenses to actor fees to distribution—factors that actor Akshay Kumar has admitted are making movie watching unaffordable for many Indians. In our today’s piece of articles the numbers in PVR’s post-pandemic dips in occupancy and footfall and throws a blade of grass in the air to see which way the wind is blowing for the multiplex behemoth.
