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Tag: PVR

  • PVR eyes 500 screens by 2015, 100 to be in smaller towns

    PVR eyes 500 screens by 2015, 100 to be in smaller towns

    MUMBAI: PVR Ltd. plans to have 500 screens by 2015 as it steps up plans to expand in smaller towns.

    “Out of this, around 100 screens would be set up in smaller towns and cities,” said PVR Ltd. chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli.

    As part of this aggressive expansion strategy, the multiplex chain operator has launched its first PVR Talkies model in Madhya Pradesh. Soon after launching a four-screen multiplex at Jalandhar in Punjab, PVR Ltd. has launched its 3-screen multiplex, PVR Talkies, at Treasure Bazaar Mall in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

    With this launch, PVR has 173 screens in 40 cinemas across 24 cities in India.

    The new multiplex is spread across an area of 27, 254 sq ft, with a capacity of 821 seats. Considering the needs and preferences of the inhabitants of Ujjain, PVR has promised to provide an “unmatched movie experience and hygienic environment with basic facilities” at attractive pricing ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 120.

    Bijli said, “We are pleased to announce the launch of our first PVR Talkies model in Madhya Pradesh after our successful run as a mainstream cinema in Indore. The launch has been planned keeping in mind the growing needs of the discerning audience in tier II & III cities for a quality cinema viewing experience.”

  • PVR set to release The Forest on 4 May

    PVR set to release The Forest on 4 May

    MUMBAI: PVR Cinemas is set to release director Ashwin Kumar‘s The Forest under its ‘Directors Rare‘ initiative on 4 May.

    The film will have a limited release in the major metros on about 19 screens to be expanded later on public demand.

    The Forest is loosely based on the ‘Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, one of the stories of Jim Corbett. The film has Nandana Sen caught between her husband and an ex-lover amidst a treacherous jungle terrain stalked by an angry man-eating leopard.

    However, the leopard is not the only problem the trio has. It is the beast that hides behind civilised façades that poses greater danger.

    Produced by Ashvin Kumar and Judith James and presented by Vijay Mallya, the film has been shot on actual locations in the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal with a foreign crew.

    The horror-sex drama also stars Jaaved Jafferi, Nandana Sen and Ankur Vikal.

  • Pepsico renews strategic partnership with PVR

    Pepsico renews strategic partnership with PVR

    MUMBAI: PepsiCo India, the leading food and beverage company, has renewed its strategic partnership with multiplex major PVR Limited.

    As part of this 5-year partnership, PepsiCo India will be the official ‘Pouring Partner‘ for carbonated soft drinks, health drinks, juice based drinks, beverages, packaged juices and water at all the 166 PVR screens spread in over 22 cities across India.

    With this, PepsiCo India intends to strengthen its position as a food and beverage player in the organised multiplex category.

    PVR Ltd chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli said, “The 15 years of association with PepsiCo have been truly fruitful and we aim to take it to the next level by announcing PepsiCo as official ‘pouring partner‘ for carbonated beverages, packaged juices and water at all our outlets across India. The range of beverages that PepsiCo offers is vast and at the same time it is popular amongst the movie aficionados. With popularity of the brand across target audiences, we see this partnership as a long and successful one.”

    The two parties had launched integrated marketing programmes around the likes of the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the recent Change the Game campaign.

    The partnership also pioneered the Pepsi + Popcorn combo for cinema-goers with its own separate communication developed by the brands. The partnership will help strengthen PepsiCo India‘s efforts in garnering consumer insights, feedback and trials for new product development and engagement ideas, the company said.

    PepsiCo India CEO – Beverages Praveen Someshwar said, “Our association with PVR has only grown manifold over the last 15 years. With more than 25 million footfalls in 2011-12 and an increasing pan India presence, this association further consolidates our presence across the organized multiplex category. PVR is a valued strategic partner and will play a pivotal role in building scale, visibility and greater consumer engagement opportunities for our beverage brands. We look forward to working with PVR to help the combine, garner an increasing revenue share of the category over the next five years.”

    Beverages from PepsiCo India include brands like Pepsi, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, 7UP, Nimbooz Masala Soda, Lehar Evervess Soda, Slice, Gatorade and Aquafina.

  • Documentary on Rat killers releasing 20 April

    Documentary on Rat killers releasing 20 April

    MUMBAI: Filmmaker Miriam Chandy Menacherry‘s documentary on rat killers titled The Rat Race is set to release in theatres on 20 April.

    Said Menacherry, “The theatre release in India is an emotional moment for it is here in my own country that I want the film to be seen.”

    The film is a true-life account of the city‘s rat killers. Every night as the rest of the city sleeps, young boys armed with torches and sticks set out to bring back 30 dead rats that are counted every morning. The rats are then disposed in the Deonar dumping ground where they are either incinerated or just dumped.

    Dark, disturbing yet humourous, the entire film was shot over two years amidst the city‘s changing seasons and circumstances of rat killers. However, the filmmaker could not capture the happenings at the dumping ground as the unit was refused permission to shoot there.

    The film has been made in such a way that it allows ex-supervisor Pest Control Department of Mumbai, BMC Behram Harda run through the film with a sort of narration.

    Interestingly, Harda, who dreamt of becoming a Bollywood dancer when he was just 16, will see his dream come true with the release of the film.

    The film is being released by PVR and Big Cinemas.

  • PVR opens PVR Talkies in Nanded

    PVR opens PVR Talkies in Nanded

    MUMBAI: Multiplex major PVR has launched a new four-screen multiplex at Treasure Bazaar Mall in Nanded, Maharashtra.

    The multiplex, spread across an area of 47,988 sq ft has capacity of 1,004 seats. It is divided into three categories — Silver, Gold and Platinum.

    The company has kept the ticket price from Rs 50 – Rs 100.

    PVR chairman and MD Ajay Bijli said, “We are pleased to announce the launch of PVR Talkies in Nanded. This is our third PVR talkies in Maharashtra after having opened in the cities of Latur and Aurangabad.

    “The launch has been planned keeping in mind the growing needs of the discerning audience in tier II & III cities for a quality cinema viewing experience. We have a target of operating 500 screens by the end of 2014 and of this around 100 screens would be set up in smaller towns and cities.”

    PVR Talkies now has presence in four cities including Vadodara, Latur and Aurangabad.

    With this launch PVR now has 166 screens in 38 cinemas in 22 cities across India.

  • Lives of rat catchers to hit the screens on 20 April

    Lives of rat catchers to hit the screens on 20 April

    MUMBAI: Documentary maker Miriam Chandy Menacherry‘s The Rat Race will commercially release on 20 April.

    The documentary unravels the lives of rat catchers who work every night while the rest of the city sleeps.

    The film is about the men hired by the Bombay Municipal Corporation who set out with torches and sticks to bring back the carcasses of 30 rats that are counted every morning to earn their daily wages.

    " I am terrified of rats, so that is certainly not a reason why I spent two years filming them….but in this film I saw the chance to use the rat as a vehicle to explore a city and the never say die spirit of its people. To me, this is a film that truly represents Mumbai and a population who keep alive their dreams even as they struggle with their daily reality," observed Menacherry, when asked as to why she ventured into making the film.

    The story that captivated an international jury in Cannes in 2010 then had three sold out shows in Amsterdam where it premiered at IDFA, one of the biggest documentary festivals.

    The film has been made on a budget of Rs 3 million. Talking of the promotion of the film, Menacherry said: “We, of course, have little or no promotional budget but I am relying on word of mouth to work things in favour of the film. After all this is a local story that is all too real, it has compelling characters and a wicked dark humour. If it could have international audiences giving it a standing ovation, I am sure Indian audiences will catch more of the nuances. The theatres are giving us a week’s release in prime time slot, which means that they see a reason to take the risk.”

    The film is supported by well known actor and comedian Jaaved Jaaferi, who recently launched the Indian Documentary Foundation (IDF), an organisation that aims to take the documentary genre to mainstream audiences.

    The documentary will be released at PVR and Big Cinemas in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

  • PVR to invest Rs 660 mn in digital conversion of screens

    PVR to invest Rs 660 mn in digital conversion of screens

    MUMBAI: PVR Cinemas is investing Rs 660 million to convert its screens to digital and has partnered with Scrabble Entertainment for this.

    While 89 screens have already been converted, the balance 73 screens will be converted within the next fortnight with an initial investment of Rs 210 million. Going forward with their expansion plans, all the future PVR properties will be 2K DCI Compliant.

    “The size of the entire partnership for digital conversion until December 2012 would be approximately Rs 660 million,” the company said.

    Scrabble Entertainment Ltd. (SEL) has partnered with PVR Cinemas to convert all its screens to digital platform.

    With the partnership in place, PVR Cinemas will have all its existing screens equipped with 2K Digital Systems. It will thereby be the first cinema exhibition circuit to achieve this feat in India.

    Said Scrabble Entertainment Ltd. CEO Ranjit Thakur, “It is extremely encouraging to see the entire footprint of a leading theatre chain go digital. Being one of the biggest & best theater chains in India, this partnership is a major step for India going completely digital by 2014. It is great to partner with PVR Cinemas as both of us strive at giving our patrons the best movie-viewing experience.”

    PVR Cinemas Group President and CEO Pramod Arora elaborated, “The value, flexibility and quality that 2K digital provides is far beyond the differential cost difference when compared to any other digital platform in the country. The stellar image on screen substantially improves the overall viewing experience of the consumer. At PVR we have taken a conscious decision to always go with the best available technology from time to time.”

    UFO Moviez, India’s biggest digital cinema player, holds 52 per cent stake in Scrabble Entertainment. Scrabble’s ability to fund this deal is primarily due to this partnership with UFO.

  • PVR acquires rights of Ashvin Kumar’s ‘The Forest’

    PVR acquires rights of Ashvin Kumar’s ‘The Forest’

    MUMBAI: PVR Cinemas has acquired the rights of director Ashvin Kumar’s 86-minute film, The Forest.

    A tale of a man-eating leopard set in the jungles of north India, The Forest was earlier premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose in February 2009 and was also show at the Cannes Market in 2009.

    The writer-director won an Oscar nomination in 2004 for Little Terrorist. The film has been part of official selections to over 130 film festivals including the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) Los Angeles.

    His documentary Inshallah Football is about a Kashmiri boy’s dreams to play football and how his father’s past jeopardises his dreams. With the film, he also became the first Indian to be nominated at the European Film Academy for the 15-minute short film that traces the journey of a young Pakistani boy who accidentally crosses the border between India and Pakistan in pursuit of his cricket ball and is instantly branded a terrorist by security forces.

    Kumar, son of well-known designer Ritu Kumar, started his filmmaking journey with Road to Ladakh and followed it up with films like Dazed in Doon and Inshallah Kashmir: Living Terror.

  • PVR Director’s Rare to release Chaurahen in 16 March

    PVR Director’s Rare to release Chaurahen in 16 March

    MUMBAI: PVR Cinemas’ recently launched alternative programming initiative, PVR Director’s Rare banner, will release Rajshree Ojha’s Chaurahen (Crossroads) on 16 March.

    The film will release in PVR cinemas at Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Gurgaon and Chennai.

    Chaurahen features three separate stories set in three different cities in contemporary India. There is a troubled adulterous affair in Kolkata, a family dealing with the loss of a son in Kochi and a young man in Mumbai dealing with memories of his ancestral home.

    The film stars Soha Ali Khan, Ankur Khanna, Victor Banerjee, Kiera Chaplin, Roopa Ganguly, Zeenat Aman, Shayan Munshi, Karthik Kumar, Suchitra Pillai, Arundathi Nag, Nedumudi Venu, and Siddharth Makkad among others.

    Earlier, the film travelled to several film festivals in 2007 like South Asian International Film Festival – New York, Mumbai International Film Festival (MAMI), Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival and Cairo International Film Festival among others.

    PVR Director’s Rare has been launched to support the theatrical release of critically acclaimed small independent films.

  • PVR posts Q3 net profit of Rs 89 mn

    PVR posts Q3 net profit of Rs 89 mn

    MUMBAI: Delhi-based multiplex major PVR has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 89.2 million for the three-month period ended 31 December 2011, compared to a net loss of Rs 132.6 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

    Total income went up marginally by 4.01 per cent to Rs 1.39 billion, from Rs 1.34 billion in the year-ago period.

    The company said that during the quarter it had 6.6 million footfalls in its cinemas, up 28 per cent from the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

    Admissions revenue jumped 15 per cent while food and beverage revenues have shown a growth of 40 per cent. Advertising and sponsorship revenues, too, went up 26 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

    Meanwhile, total expenditure of the company declined 9.88 per cent to Rs 1.23 billion, as against Rs 1.37 billion a year ago.

    The movie exhibition business saw a segment profit of Rs 164.4 million in the quarter as compared to a profit of Rs 142.6 million in the year ago period. The revenue from the segment was Rs 1.26 billion (from Rs 1.03 billion).

    PVR deployed a capital of Rs 3.88 billion on the movie exhibition segment, as of 31 December 2011.

    In the movie production and distribution segment, the company registered a segment profit of Rs 4.9 million, compared to a loss of Rs 178.2 million a year ago. Revenue from the segment stood at Rs 102.5 million (Rs 302.5 million in the year ago).

    Capital deployed on the segment was Rs 1.07 billion, as of 31 December.

    Shares of PVR closed 5.71 per cent down at Rs 138.90 on the BSE.