MAISON INOX Cinema Grand Opening witnesses Star Cast of ‘Animal’ Ranbir Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rishmika Mandanna along with PVR INOX Elite Promoters Ajay Bijli, Sanjeev Kumar Bijli and Siddharth Jain

MUMBAI (TGN/ BABITA PRABHAKAR): Multiplex operator PVR INOX has continued its bet on premium screens with the company opening a new 6-screen property at Jio World Plaza in Mumbai.

The company has opened another Imax screen taking the total tally of Imax screens to four in Mumbai and 22 in India.

Focusing on the food and beverage (F&B) segment, the multiplex chain has opened a bar and lounge in the new property to go beyond just movie offerings.

"F&B over the last couple of years has amplified across the merged company. Today we are saying you eat food while you are watching a movie. F&B contributes around 30 percent to the total revenue. Going forward we expect F&B's share to increase," said Alok Tandon, Co-CEO, PVR Inox Limited.

"India is at the forefront of the global market in terms of cinema innovations," said Renaud Palliere, CEO, The Luxury Collections, PVR Cinemas.

"More mature geographies are playing catch up with markets like India. India is at the top when it comes to adopting technology in the exhibition space. And where India is ahead is in the pre- and post-movie experience. The common areas outside auditoriums there India is setting the trend as it is reinventing this experience."

He said that premium screens have a high single-digit share of the entire inventory of PVR Inox. "We see that increasing in double digits in the years ahead. We have a strong demand from the developer community as well. Also, the premium property is high on the agenda post-Covid of the audience as people are yearning to go outside."

Palliere added that there is a strong demand for premium products in India. "We are seeing similar occupancy levels in luxury formats like in mainstream screens. The evolution of luxury products started from tier I cities and has eventually extended to cities beyond the metros."

The new property called Maison Inox opening comes at a time when the content lineup looks very strong with Ranbir Kapoor's Animal slated for December 1 and will clash with another much-awaited film Sam Bahadur starring Vicky Kaushal.

Tandon said that the advance booking for Animal is looking very strong. "There is a great content lineup in December and it should be a great month."

Animal and Sam Bahadur which will kickstart the weekend run at the cinemas this month, have begun on a promising note with Animal already crossing 1 million (or 10 lakh) tickets sold in advance sales even as Sam Bahadur shoulders a steady ride, said Ashish Saksena, COO - Cinemas, BookmyShow

"Starting with a bang and ending with another one, that’s how December is increasingly looking like with the other high-impact releases for the month including  Dunki  and  Salaar: Part 1- Ceasefire. We are optimistic that with this diverse mix of films this month, the audience enthusiasm and anticipation is riding high for December to end 2023 with some potential blockbusters in store,” Saksena said.