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Ajay Bijli, the managing director of PVR INOX, India’s biggest theatre chain, addressed criticism of inflated ticket prices. In an interview, he said that he has experimented with cheap ticket pricing and combo offers, but it all boils down to the quality of films being released. Citing anecdotal evidence about paying customers utilizing a free refill offer on popcorn and beverages without watching the films they’d purchased tickets for, Bijli said that it is unfair to blame the exhibition sector for the industry’s woes.
Chatting with Film Companion, he said that PVR INOX’s average ticket price across India is around Rs 260. He said, “Of course, pricing is important. There is no question about it. But people are time poor more than cash poor. I have done experiments with pricing as low as possible. What can be lesser than Rs 85 for infrastructure like this? Yet, people don’t come out. They aren’t attracted only to price. They’re saying, ‘In my three hours, also give me something engaging’. Pricing isn’t the only thing that moves the needle.”
Bijli said that 65% of PVR’s revenue comes from the box office, around 25% comes from food and beverage, and 10% from advertising. He said, “But the first thing is people coming in. Everything is governed by people walking in. My entire team’s job, every single day, is increasing footfalls. This pricing issue is nothing but a perception. We have discounted our pricing like you can’t even imagine. So, now, we’re manufacturing footfalls. It’s a new term we’ve come up with. More than 200,000 people we got last month through corporate bookings, through old movies, stand-up comedy shows…”
Citing an example of what he has observed, he continued, “Content is causing variability. I have kept everything constant. Variability is caused by content, not ticket pricing. In fact, I’ve got videos of customers coming and not watching the movie. They fill up (on food) and go. You know what they’ve done? They have picked up popcorn, father is telling the children, ‘Isko bharo’. They’re filling it up, it’s spilling. Then they’re gulping it down, it’s again spilling. This is when we did the Rs 99 offer. I’ve seen a multitude of videos like that. People are just going crazy, they don’t have any more room in their stomachs and they’re just eating and drinking.” Bijli said that his instinct was the end the offer, but his associate told him that they shouldn’t, because it would prove that pricing isn’t the issue.
He said that only 14% of PVR screens in India are above the rate of Rs 350 per seat; the remaining 86% is between Rs 180 and Rs 200 per seat. “That’s my value proposition customer. My value proposition customer is my bread and butter…” In an earlier interview with the Indian Express, Bijli had addressed rising ticket prices and said that he has a diverse slate of customers to cater to.
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