By 2014, PVR, operating a network of 454 screens in 102 properties in 43 cities across the country, had emerged as the largest cinema exhibition company in India. The company plans to add 70 to 80 screens every year and have 1,000 screens across India by 2018 through organic and inorganic growth.
In 2015, PVR currently operates a cinema circuit comprising 474 screens spread over 106 properties in 43 cities across India. As a result of the acquisition of DT Cinemas, PVR will have a presence in 44 cities with 115 multiplexes and 506 screens. Currently amongst the top ten cinema companies in the world with respect to admissions per screen, PVR has entered the World Economic Forum’s list of fastest-growing ‘Global Growth Companies’.
Act 3
Scene 1: The PVR experience
India’s leading film entertainment company came to be ranked among the top ten cinema companies in the world in terms of admissions per screen by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2014. Despite the advent of online consumption of film entertainment, PVR maintained its relevance and was not necessarily in conflict with it. With its long-term vision of excelling in the retail entertainment domain and maintaining a leadership position, PVR redefined the cinema-viewing experience for movie connoisseurs by providing world-class immersive viewing. PVR offered its patrons good and diversified content from Hollywood, Bollywood and regional film centres.
Scene 2: A calibrated portfolio strategy
The 100-year-old Hindi film industry still sets style and fashion trends in the country. With the benefits of economic liberalization percolating down, disposable income had risen and so had middle class aspirations and lifestyles.
Various independent market research surveys showed that the young sought a totality of experience which was a mix of wholesomeness and flaunting value. As a result, they saw movies as part of a bigger experience. Not being careful with their money, like earlier generations, they kept coming back to PVR which had turned theatres into classy, stylish luxury spaces and quasi-community centres. As Ajay Bijli stated, ‘When people enter a PVR cinema, it should assure absolute escapism. I can’t control the movies. But the environment that you see the movie in is something that we can assure will be perfect.’
While PVR remained the parent brand, it developed and positioned sub-brands to cater to specific customer segments through a range of properties. It set new benchmarks in the cinema exhibition business by building the first eleven-screen multiplex in the country, and by introducing Gold Class cinema, Director’s Cut luxury cinema, IMAX technology theatres and Enhanced Cinema Experience (ECX).
Director’s Cut
The Director’s Cut property is the ultimate in luxury cinema-viewing. This niche location is home to four luxury movie halls, a café and a book and souvenir store.
The Gold Class property offers its patrons comfortable, reclining, leatherupholstered seats, a personalized menu overseen by a maître d’ and exclusive lounge areas with bookshelves and original art by renowned artists.
Gold Class
PVR Premier caters to the upper middle class in metros with distinctively styled new-age cinema halls for a world-class cinema experience.
PVR Mainstream is the popular brand catering to the middle class with regular but comfortable seating.
Scene 3: PVR Pictures: Bringing you the movies
PVR Pictures is the flagship motion-pictures arm of the PVR Group and has released many Hindi, Hollywood and regional films across genres. As a company, PVR Pictures keeps a tight watch on developments in the Hollywood market space, especially the films being recognized at various festivals—Cannes, Berlinale and American Film Market. Over the years, it has built a robust network of relationships with producers, sales agents and sales companies.
PVR Pictures was involved in the distribution of all the major 2013–14 Oscar-nominated films—The Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, Her, Lone Survivor, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club and August: Osage County—in the country.
In addition to distribution of Indian and international films, PVR Pictures also supported independent filmmakers by releasing their films under the PVR Director’s Rare banner and introduced the concept of alternate content to India by launching a brand new platform—PVR LIVE—showcasing live and recorded events. It emerged as the dominant player with 90 per cent of the market share in this category.
Also, PVR Director’s Rare had been instrumental in bringing about a paradigm shift from star-driven cinema to content-driven cinema. Most film production corporations were making films that were high on star value and entertained smaller town audiences more than chic urban audiences.
Director’s Rare case study: The film Lucia
PVR Director’s Rare discovered a small Kanadda independent film, Lucia, which was made for ₹52 lakh, raised through crowd funding. We provided the filmmaker and the film the much needed springboard for it to get noticed.
Lucia played for thirteen weeks at our theatres and had net box office earnings of ₹96 lakh at PVR Group theatres. The satellite rights of the film were bought by Udaya TV for ₹95 lakh. Fox Star India bought the Hindi remake rights and all other rights of the film have similarly been monetized.
Thus PVR Director’s Rare provided an obscure documentary a theatrical release in commercial multiplexes in India. PVR Director’s Rare has released six documentaries in two years’ time and is behind the success story of documentaries like Supermen of Malegaon and Fire in the Blood.
Act 4
Going beyond the cinema business
In Ajay Bijli’s own words:
If you were to ask Howard Schultz what else he wants to do, he would say ‘I want to open more Starbucks’ and the same is the case with McDonald’s. So while everybody wants me to vertically integrate, I ask why I should only be making cinemas. Like an entrepreneur tries various business models, pre-acquisition we too tried our hands at a few ventures. But post acquisition I have realized that I want to work only in cinema space, as this our core strength. India right now is very under-screened, and I want to expand everywhere I can. However pre-acquisition, we have invested in a few ventures from restaurants to bowling centres.
Scene 1: PVR and its subsidiaries: Bowling and more
The idea behind setting up bluO was to provide a one-stop entertainment destination to all and to promote bowling in India. Bowling is promoted as an indoor sport and as leisure and entertainment for patrons at PVR bluO. PVR bluO was the retail-entertainment arm of the PVR Group and was a 51:49 joint venture between PVR and Major Cineplex Group of Thailand, a leading film exhibition and retail entertainment company that operates 480 bowling centres in Thailand.
PVR bluO is a one-of-its-kind entertainment concept in India. Simply speaking, what T-20 has done for cricket in India, bluO has done for bowling. In other words, bluO is a mix of fun and bowling—world cuisine, music, sport—coming together. It has been able to redefine bowling as a popular lifestyle and entertainment sport in the country.
BluO Bangalore
BluO is a unique concept and some of the elements that go into giving it that extra edge are an exceptional rhythmic interior design with a sensual play of light and form and a ceiling that emanates as a ripple wave. It is energetic, stylish and in sync with the lifestyle and ideology of today’s youth.
As of 2014, PVR bluO had six centres, two in Delhi NCR, two in Bangalore, one in Pune and one in Chandigarh. BluO offers some exceptional services to its patrons like playstation lounges, private karaoke lounges, exclusive platinum lounges, India’s first international standard pro shop, stylish merchandise, a pulsating music den, a tattoo studio and well-equipped bars that serve a dazzling array of the finest liquor, beverages and wines.
Scene 2: PVR and its restaurants
PVR’s other new subsidiary PVR Leisure Ltd, a joint venture between PVR Ltd and Mauritius-based L Capital Eco Ltd, focuses on rolling out food and beverages (F&B) at fine dining restaurants Mistral in New Delhi and Mr Hong in Bangalore. Apart from these, it also d
eals with retail entertainment concepts including hospitality, leisure and gaming. Nearly 24 per cent of the group revenues come from the F&B segment.
Mistral is a fusion of Mediterranean grill with Eastern culinary influences ranging from North East Asia to India and the Middle East.
Mr Hong is a contemporary rendition of the Chinese tea house concept incorporating culinary influences spanning South East Asia. Tea is the underlying theme infused in every aspect of the brand, from F&B recipes to interior design.
Act 5
Scene 1: There is no standing still…
PVR aims at expanding to 1,000 screens by 2018.
PVR Cinemas joined hands with Mexican family entertainment centres brand KidZania to launch a fifteen-screen superplex under a joint venture between real estate major Unitech and International Amusement Ltd, the biggest retail and leisure destination in the Delhi NCR region, spread across 147 acres in Noida.
PVR promises to be a force to reckon with in times to come in this space as well. While the country has a large urban population exceeding 300 million, PVR recognizes that the rural population is even larger and is working on creating products targeting this segment as well.
Scene 2: Shaping the growth of cine advertising in the country
Over the years, cinema watching has expanded its scope as a leisure activity. The movie watching experience has now evolved into a rounded entertainment activity, where the audience voluntarily surrenders to the environment, with higher receptivity to brand messaging as compared to any other medium.
Cinema offers an unrivalled advertising impact with low ad avoidance, helping form a deep connect between the advertising brand and audiences. Today, cinema advertising in India is largely known for the innovative methods that PVR has pioneered in the country. PVR’s dominance in the cinema-advertising domain is so profound that its total advertising sales equal the combined sales of all competing players.
From ₹75 crore last year, cinema advertising has jumped to a whopping figure of ₹141 crore this year and is expected to touch ₹169 crore by the end of 2015. Rising at a 35–40 per cent year-on-year, cinema advertising is growing faster than online, radio or overall advertising, where annual growth is about 11 per cent.
And…cut!!! Final word
PVR is listed as India’s most trusted and attractive brand by The Brand Trust Report 2015 in the category entertainment and cinema display. The company commands a phenomenal 70 per cent of advertising revenue in the cinema space, and delivers 360-degree exposure and innovative opportunities to brands—both on-screen and off-screen.
Ajay Bijli said:
Right from the beginning, if PVR Priya (the first screen opened) had not been a success, I would have been disappointed. Success in any initiative gives you the boost to go further, and do even better. I recently read a quote by Nelson Mandela which really touched me: ‘Do not judge me by my successes. Judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.’ I believe in this and that’s what defines success for me.
Awards and recognitions
2015
PVR awarded India’s most Trusted Cinema Display Brand in Brand Trust Report 2015.
PVR Ltd has been honoured with the following awards at The Fridays BW Businessworld Cinema Exhibition Awards & Conference:
»Fastest Growing Chain
»Best Chain, National
»Best Marketing Initiatives
2014
Ajay Bijli, awarded the Most Admired Multiplex Professional of the year, CMO Asia’s Multiplex Excellence Awards.
Business Today India’s Best 100 CEOs rankings—Ajay Bijli.
Images Most Admired Retailer of the Year: Entertainment.
Star Box Office Multiplex Chain of the Year.
2013
VC Circle Award for Media and Communication.
Ajay Bijli awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Business Transformation.
2012
Emerging India Award by CNBC.
2011
Business Icons Male Award India by Entrepreneur India magazine.
Industry Leadership Award at Indian Film Festival held in Los Angeles.
2009
EOY Videocon Youth Icon Award.
2007
Nominated among top Indians for Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum.
2005
Entrepreneur of the Year (Entertainment) by Indian Retail Forum.
2004
Business Leadership Award by Franchise India.
Newsmaker of the Year Award for 2003 (part of FICCI Frames).
Teacher’s Achievement Award.
2003
Theatre World Newsmaker of the Year Award at FICCI Frames.
2003–2004
Retailer of the Year: Entertainment by Images Retail.
2002 and 2005
Finalist at Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
A JOURNEY OF COUNTLESS MILES AND BEYOND
I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I am going is what inspires me to travel.
—Rosalia De Castro
It was with this belief that Deep Kalra, an alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, conceptualized the business idea of MakeMyTrip in the year 2000. The entire online travel industry in India was pioneered by Deep with a single great idea—empowering the traveller. This is the story of MakeMyTrip, India’s online travel leader.
The concept of holidaying together as a family has long been prevalent in India. But planning a family vacation, though fun, was not as convenient as it is today. Holidays were planned at least six months in advance, with a lot of deliberation and debate among family members. Families used to painstakingly collect brochures or keep cutouts of travelogues from newspapers and magazines to refer to for research. Recommendations from friends and relatives who had been to those destinations were an important source of information. The travel agent was the trusted expert and key guide before finalization. Booking the travel was the next big task with long hours in ticket queues. Value for money, however, an important criterion then, remains one even today.
A lot changed with the Internet boom in 2000. Business fundamentals reasserted themselves as users flocked to the web and the opportunity seemed boundless. Initial skepticism gave way to experimentation and mounting excitement as people began to believe in the power of the Internet.
Deep Kalra cashed in on this Internet boom with the insights gained as a result of his former role at GE capital. As the vice president, business development, Deep’s mandate had been to develop and partner new distribution channels for GE Capital’s consumer financial products, and he chose to focus on the Internet.
When he decided to venture out on his own, Deep first studied various verticals that could be well-suited to the Indian online market and his entrepreneurial instincts made him realize that the travel industry lent itself best to the power of online. A service-oriented industry with well-automated processes at the supplier end, the travel industry was also undergoing significant changes at consumer level—e-tickets were becoming all-pervasive and the success of IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation), the online portal of Indian Railways, had demonstrated that consumers were warming up to the convenience offered by online ticketing. With the potential of offering never-before convenience and ease that would take away the pain of long queues and travel-planning blues, this industry was well-poised for driving behaviour shifts from physical channels to virtual ones. Moreover, there existed a vast gap in the service delivery standards for the average consumer who was dependent on the mercies of travel agents and other random support structures.
Deep envisioned MakeMyTrip as the defining portal for Indians travelling to, from and within India. Armed with rich insights, a lot of passion, a business plan and modest personal savings, Deep raised an initial round of funding from eVentures, an India-focused venture capital fund. Having worked in a large corpora
te, Deep ensured that MakeMyTrip had a professional team and hired his core from among seasoned professionals from the travel industry and managers who had worked with him in the past. This team worked tirelessly to develop a world-class travel portal to cater to resident Indians as well as non-resident Indians (NRI).
The first version of the site was launched in October 2000.
The first stumbling blocks in the journey
Upon launching the first version of the site in October 2000, MakeMyTrip received a favourable response from the NRI market in the US. In India, however, travellers were more inclined to research online but preferred to make the actual buying decision using traditional modes of payment. As a result, the team had to make the difficult call of stopping all marketing in India. In hindsight, this turned out to be one of the best decisions for the company. By focusing solely on the NRI market, MakeMyTrip managed to conserve precious marketing dollars while its competitors burnt their fingers in a premature online market.
STRATEGIC SMART: Pulling off spends from the domestic market to focus on the NRI market.
The tightening of market spend (and other related expenses) turned out to be a timely move as it helped the company tide over one of the most difficult periods for the online travel industry. During the years 2001 and 2002, travel and tourism was ravaged by a series of storms—the aftermath of 9/11, the dot-com bust, the attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001 and the SARS epidemic. This took a toll on the travel industry as the demand for ‘discretionary’ travel and tourism plummeted. While it is difficult to isolate the impact of the events of 2001, they were a part of a chain of events that cost the industry three years of growth. However, the NRI market proved to be a highly inelastic and reliable market, mainly because the drivers for these trips were quite different. Providing NRIs the unmatched convenience of a 24×7 online travel portal and travel consultancy support, MakeMyTrip managed to survive these difficult years and soon became a well-known brand among NRIs in the US.
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