the easy availability of Ott or video on demand on our television sets and the dramatic growth of the sector in India has led many to believe that the days of going to cinema halls in the country may be coming to an end. It really depends, though, on who you ask. But yes, the growth of O TT platforms and the size of the segment in India has been stratospheric. Consolidation of companies which have brought US cinemas and theatres, namely the PV r Inox Group, now means that several old screens will be shut down, but also new ones will be open. But it's the quarterly numbers of PV r in the merged entity that is a cause of concern. The multiplex chain has reported a loss of 333 cores. Why exactly is that happening now? Joining us? I spoke in fact earlier today to a bi the MD of PV RIA maverick in this industry. Joining us now AJ Bisley, the MD of PV RIA maverick in this industry. Thanks very much. Uh, Mr Bili for being with us. I confess right on my immediate bias. I prefer going to a theatre. Any day. So so much for unbiased journalism. But but be that as it may, why is it that you you've had this huge 333 1st quarter loss? Uh, it's It's the fourth quarter wish to, uh, first of all, please call me and right, Well, it's the 4th, 4th quarter of last year. And, uh, it was it was a very volatile year. Uh, you know, it's only been about 12 months. Uh, since the pandemic and pandemic really had us completely, uh, on the ground, as you know it it was a body blow, a coup, the grass which industry had never experienced before. So it it took time for everybody. So India has always been the demand side, and the supply side have been the best in the world. We make the highest number of movies, and we have the highest visitations to the cinemas. But the this black swan event really impacted both the supply side and the demand side. So it's like if somebody gets a severe injury, it takes time for him to recoup. So last year has been of that, but this year is looking very good. Uh, we already we've started, uh, the year, April May June on, uh, some good movies. There's a good momentum even in July. August. So this, uh, loss is attributable to the volatility that we experienced last year. And it was a very strange year. We know what we had is either The peaks were very, very high. So you had, like, R R R K G, FA two and Patan, which performed even better than anything ever did pre covid, you know, barring Bali two, which was an aberration. But if you take Bali two out of the equation, all movies have performed better than ever in every category. But then the peaks, the rallies were very low as well. So if if a movie did not connect with the consumer, uh, the dip was very low. So therefore that equilibrium that we used to get pre covid did not come in the 1st 12 months. But now we are seeing that it's a momentum business. Every week some movie comes out, two or three or four films come out, people see the trailers and they come out. So I think we are back on track now. This loss also is because of some extraordinary expenditures which were merger related. So merger R expenditures. You know, there are a lot of accounting rules. Uh, and there are one off expenditures. If my CFO was, uh, on this call as well, he would have probably explained it better. Uh, which are there? Impairment charges. That's one expenditure which has brought the, uh, you know, lost very high. Uh, second is that we shut down about 50 odd cinemas and we shut them down. Uh, simply because the life of those cinemas was over. So a lot of our cinemas are in malls, so malls themselves start closing down and they become less attractive. Then there is no point in carrying on with the leases, because we are all lease properties. And the leases also come to a life cycle end. But how many people have ended up losing their jobs as a result of these 50 screens being shut down? Well, uh, first of all, let's talk about the number of jobs that we create every year. 200 screens we add, so, uh, but they they won't lose their job. They get adjusted to the new properties because, uh, if you go deep into it, for example, like now we've got almost 80 screens now. But there were some very old properties which were just completely getting decreed. And, uh, and also, sometimes there's an alternative use for the developer. You know, he can he can do something else on that property, so we can't really force them to extend the lease as well. But none of these guys are going to lose their jobs that that that that's important. And that's good news. Because in this market, uh, you know, you are going to absorb them in in another part of your enterprise. But I think it's also interesting that you're setting up up to 100 and 75 additional screens that, um Why why would you do this at a time when you know, let's face it, O TT is a rage, and, you know, it is doing phenomenally well. So, O TT, uh, you know this I must, uh uh, I think the conversation about O TT has also gone over the top now, because that is, uh, that is one form of, uh, content consumption. Uh, which was, uh, with the avatar has changed. So it was a TV that it became, uh l DS and DVD s and V h s. Maybe I'm not sending the right order. Then satellite became very big. And now O TT has come. But long form storytelling is is what is very popular in O TT, not movies. And we are all about movies. Uh, so during the pandemic, of course, the windows, which is the gap between the theatrical release and the O TT release, collapsed because we were shut. So therefore, certain movies went to the O TT platforms. But now, if you look at it all the shows that all of us watch Even I'm a big fan of some of the TV shows that come Some brilliant one I was watching last night. I'm forgetting the name of Soak s uh uh programme. Uh, but basically long form, uh, entertainment is what what people watch at home, where 13 episodes season one season two, they get unfolded and we all love it. But when you want a quick fix and you want something experiential out of home, then they go and watch movies. So this is the way it was happening pre pandemic. And this is the way it's going to happen. Post pandemic as well. And, um, so the same consumer. You and I, we have different habits. We can put our feet up and watch something at home and at the same time on the weekend, our discretionary time is more. We can go out and watch movies, and that's always been the trend. And that's always been something that's been going on for a long time, and it's coming back again. So this this week, for example, we had guardians of the Galaxy fast, and the Furious is coming next week, and then we have a We have flash. We have a big another big movie coming. I'm forgetting, um, it it's just crossing transformers. Lots of films are coming. Javan is coming. Carla's story was a big sleeper hit that's done very well. Already touched about 150 odd rows, so people are coming out and at the same time, ot D platforms are doing well, So both have always coexisted and they'll continue to coexist. It's not an either or discussion a binary discussion at all, So you wouldn't agree with the argument that the cost of a ticket to see a movie in a multiplex is more than the cost of what many subscribers would pay for an O. T. D platform all year. And that would be less attractive. No, the cost is definitely more because the experience there's there's a lot of infrastructure behind showing the movies on the big screen. And, uh, so that's what uh, but, uh, fortunately, you know, we got 100 and 41 million people visited our cinemas last year, and our average ticket was ₹220. So that's an A T. P. So a lot of people who live in urban cities, they, you know, go to maybe directors, or they'll go to D. L F Promenade or they'll go to or K Man and Bangalore. So they take that as the average ticket price. That's not the average ticket price, so our our India is a very disparate market, and our circuit is very disparate. So our ticket prices, from anything from ₹100 to as high as ₹2000 because we want to get everybody out of their homes, even who are people who even those who have got their home theatres at home. So but if you take the average a p of PR I put together, it's about a little over 200 bucks. Are you decisively out of covid and which hit your industry? Look, to be honest with you, uh, airlines, hospitality and cinemas are the three sectors that got impacted the most. We are we have taken the longest to recover. There's no question about it, so it's taking longer than the other sectors. But as I said this this particular year after the last quarter has started very well. And even last year. Some of the things have completely made us feel very optimistic because there's no reason why these movies would have reached High Sky High figures. Uh, if people did not have the appetite to come out and watch movies because they were tired of being at home. And it's a very natural thing for Indian consumers, at least to go out and watch movies. And that's what I find the Indian market very, very exciting because both the supply side and the demand side is very strong. You are banking, uh, obviously on the success of films and big big releases, and you are confident that let's talk about Bollywood. That and even our southern film industry this year 2023. You've got enough to bank on to be profitable by the time we speak this time next year. Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm confident because, uh, you know, uh, some incredible, uh, scripts are being written. Uh, the the, uh the the the supply side. Producers are haven't seen this kind of results ever. So when you when they release a movie in O TT, it's cost Plus, So there's a cap to how much they can earn. But when it comes to theatrical release, if the movie connects with the audiences there is no cap. It can It can go to any level. So for economic reasons as well, the supply side, which is the film fraternity, is, uh, very excited to bring the movies back onto the big screen. And I'm also not just banking on mega blockbusters. I gave you the example of, uh uh, you know, a lot of a lot of these a k movies that you used to come pre covid. There's a huge lineup of these smaller movies as well. And small movies are not defined by the budget. Small movies are defined by how they do at the box office. So these sleeper hits are the ones which I, which used to really get us excited. And I see a huge lineup of the sleeper hits as well, this time a smaller movies which will connect with the consumer. What about, um, footfalls inside multiplexes? Uh, can you share some trends with us this year? Well, last year has not been bishop. Very good. As I said, pre covid combined entity did about 100 and 80 million people, €18. But we did about €14 in this particular year, so there has been a a shortfall. But now, April onwards, uh, we're looking at almost a corrode this month a corrode and 30 in, uh, in May and 40. So which is which is very healthy. So we're looking on track to get about, uh, 18, roughly 180 million people this year. It's been wonderful speaking to you. Thank you so much. And and let's hope that, you know, people get back in the volumes that you all see there is nothing that really replaces the movie going experience. Thank you very much indeed. For being Thanks. Thanks very much. Thank you.
