PVR Ltd eyes investment in the range of Rs 100-150 crore to set up new properties in the coming year, despite pandemic-induced losses and the well-known struggle of the cinema exhibition industry in getting back on its feet. The Ajay Bijli-owned multiplex chain, which has just opened a three-screen theatre in Kanpur and a six-screen property in Mysore, has around 15 more cinemas that are fully capitalized and are just awaiting final licenses.

“We should look at four to five properties this March and the remaining in the next calendar year,” said Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, joint managing director, PVR adding that the company also recently refitted a single screen theatre in Lucknow. The chain looks at location and development as critical factors when deciding on new properties. Many of these are likely to come up in small towns across the country.

“We have identified single-screen cinemas across the country and shortlisting those that are commensurate with the PVR brand aspiration. We intend to actively engage with passionate developers and cinema owners to recreate the legacy that they once enjoyed,” Pramod Arora, chief growth and strategy officer at PVR Ltd said. The company’s design and project teams invest much time in refurbishing existing spaces of single screens into modern and premium interiors and create a win-win situation for them by driving higher footfalls and revenues by strengthening the customer offer, he added.

To be sure, after months of negotiations, film theatres across India managed to get their real estate developers and landlords to settle for a revenue-sharing arrangement until March this year. Multiplex chains used to either pay a fixed minimum guarantee (MG) to landlords before the pandemic or a mix of MG and share of the revenue but were compelled to negotiate following the pressures of the pandemic. Bijli, however, said they were looking to go back to their old arrangement soon as the Hollywood and Bollywood line-up for the summer seems promising.