If there is a saving grace for the Indian Cinema Industry, then it is the Southern movies that is giving a leap of faith to industry stakeholders – producers, distributors and exhibitors (cinema theatres).
India’s largest multiplex giant PVR-Inox combine has announced the opening of its 3rd property in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
The 5-screen multiplex with around 900 seats is not only it’s largest, but also among the most premier ones in the state.
PVR operates at the Brookfields Mall where it took over the Chennai-based Satyam Cinemas in 2019. The chain also operates another property at the Mall in the city.
PVR-Inox combined announced a dull Q1 at the back of the General Assembly Elections all through the months of April and May 2024 with fewer than usual releases.
For the FY 23-24, PVR announced a total revenue of INR 6,203 Cr with a net loss of INR 114 Cr.
Further, most of the companies’ properties lie in the Northern and Eastern parts of India where Hindi-language films failed to make an impact unlike last year.
Most multiplex chains are now growing within a region or are spreading fast across the 3 states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu is among the states currently with most number of standalone screens and least multiplexes when compared to North and West India.
Further, Tamil Nadu produces over 300 Tamil-language movies a year, while Telugu movies match this number.
Hindi-language feature films which crossed over 500 a year before the Covid-19 period are now considerably reduced due to fewer takers at theatres.
Recently, Bollywood Director Karan Johar had remarked that admissions to theatres have considerably reduced due to high ticket prices which was refuted by the Multiplex Association of India.
The cluster body of theatre chains remarked that the average selling price of movie tickets was INR 130 while PVR Inox had reported an average ticket price (ATP) of INR 258.
Several movies that do not fare well in theatres end up winning accolades from viewers on OTT platforms.