Cinema halls bank on good content to win back viewers

Allowed to open after almost four months in select states after forced closure by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, multiplex chains are now banking on good content to raise the curtains again to woo the maximum allowed viewers. Leading multiplex chains as PVR, Inox and Cinepolis have vaccinated their entire team and support staff, ensuring safety to win back the viewers in the current situation and has also lined up special offers and promotion for them. The multiplex operators had opened some of their auditoriums on Friday last week in the permitted states, strictly following the standard operating procedure (SOP) and has plans to add more screens in a phased manner in the coming weeks.

Besides multiplexes are also now offering private screenings for families and smaller groups at the operational screens as entertainment bubble, personalised service, customised food package and dedicated manager along with a content of their choice, either from the current play list, or an old blockbuster.

The country's leading film exhibition company PVR has got permission to operate 526 screens and around 25 per cent of them are operational as of now. "As on date 12 states and 2 UTs where PVR is present in India and Colombo, Sri Lanka, have allowed cinemas to reopen with varying norms relating to social distancing," PVR CEO Gautam Dutta said. These account for 526 screens across 111 properties which is around 60 per cent of our total screen portfolio, he added. "We are reopening our cinemas on a staggered basis starting July 30 onwards," Dutta added. PVR, which operates in India and Sri Lanka, has a portfolio of 842 screens at 176 properties across 71 cities.

While Inox, the second biggest exhibitor, said almost one-third of its 650 screens are now operational. "We have a total screen count of 650 and around one-third of that is operational now. This number is going to increase in the next two-three days. As and when cinemas get ready, we will keep opening them," said an Inox official. Every week, the number of operating screens would keep on increasing, he added. While Cinépolis India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Mexican movie theatre chain Cinépolis which operates around 360 screens here, has opened gates in cities such as Hyderabad and Vijaywada.