THE ENDURING ALLURE OF CINEMAS

AJAY BIJLI, Chairman and MD, PVR Cinemas, in an exclusive chat with BW Businessworld, talks about the revival of cinemagoing in India, strategies driving PVR's success in an era of digital streaming dominance, innovative enhancements to the movie-watching experience, the dynamics of urban and rural audiences, industry challenges, and the exciting expansion plans for PVR both at home and abroad. Excerpts 

- Ruhail Amin

We have witnessed a phenomenal resurgence in people going back to cinemas. What do you think explains this trend? 

Well, you know, as Aristotle said, man is a social animal. Everybody’s desire to go out, in fact, in my view, has only increased after the pandemic, because during the pandemic, people were forced to remain inside, and it was not by choice.

There was 18 months of closure. You can’t write off a strong activity like cinema-going, which has been around for hundreds of years, by just 18 months of closure. Definitely, habits did change, and people did not have any choice, because when you don’t have a choice, then you do consume content at home. Where else are you going to go? But I think when you do have a choice, then you like to consume content where you’re meant to consume it.

People’s desire to go out and watch movies is something which cannot be replaced by anything happening at home. And I have nothing against OTT, that’s a different form of entertainment. OTT is just another avatar of home entertainment. So home entertainment used to be with TV, then colour TV, then satellite TV, VHS, DVD, LD, and OTT. It has always been in existence, home entertainment. So I think that’s why people are going out and watching movies.

How have you innovated in order to enhance the cinema-going experience?