Bollywood has a new talking point, and it is all about — EXCLUSIVE: PVR INOX’s Sanjeev Kumar Bijli celebrates Drishyam The Conclusion’s box office success: “Our weekend admissions stood at 30 lakhs, among the HIGHEST ever”; predicts BLOCKBUSTER run for Ramayana: “It has all the ingredients”. Fans and trade analysts have been closely following every update, and the latest development adds another chapter to what has been an eventful week for Hindi cinema.
The Story So Far
Add as a preferred source on Google The month of September proved to be a healthy one for the exhibition sector, while October began with a bang, thanks to the phenomenal turn of Drishyam The Conclusion. Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive filmmaker, PVR INOX Limited, spoke exclusively with the publication about the strong box office turn, the success of Avengers Endgame: Encore, the innovative Drishyam Pav Bhaji offer, the excitement surrounding Ramayana, the expansion of IMAX shows and a lot more.
How was the month of September and the first week of October for PVR INOX? September was very good, dominated by Hanuman Ansh, of course (smiles). No one expected it to become such a sleeper successful.
It exploded at the box office and has done business of close to Rs. That's heartening for us, as it proves yet again that anything can happen in this business. Then, Mirzapur The movie did very well, and towards the end of the month, The Vvaan also performed strongly in cinemas.
These captures gave us the desired footfalls and the results we were looking for. So, I am very happy with how September shaped up for us. October has started with a bang, thanks to Drishyam The Conclusion.
It has already collected Rs. 162 crores over the weekend and is still going strong. What's amazing is that people have loved the movie and are talking about it.
This only means that it is going to sustain well and perform even better than we had expected. We also dropped the Japanese movie Doraemon: Castle Of The Undersea Devil, which minted around Rs. 8 crores over the weekend.
That was a pleasant surprise. Our weekend admissions stood at 30 lakhs, which is a tremendous number and among the highest we have ever recorded. Also, we have three more captures coming up in October before Ramayana takes over in November – Udta Teer, Prahaar and Nayyi Navelli.
They belong to diverse genres and their trailers look promising. Hence, these captures have the potential to add significantly to our admissions this month. PVR INOX came up with an interesting offer – buy four tickets for Drishyam The Conclusion and get one Pav Bhaji free.
The creative announcing the offer was widely posted online. How important is it to provide such incentives to moviegoers? We keep thinking of different offers, and this particular idea came from the producers, if I am not mistaken.
It was quite different and innovative (laughs). We are not a passive brand that believes people will automatically flock to cinemas whenever a movie releases. That's obviously not true.
A lot goes into building and running cinemas. One of the things we actively focus on is promotions and marketing to make the moviegoing experience more attractive for our patrons. That's why we offer discounted ticket prices on Tuesdays and weekday mornings.
We also have several offers in association with banks and credit card companies. Our marketing and promotions team constantly strives to come up with innovative offers that encourage people to…
As the story continues to develop, TeraMovies will keep you updated with every new detail. Until then, this remains one of the most closely watched entertainment stories of the week — and the conversation is only getting started.
