It?s been a homecoming of sorts for Kamal Gianchandani, who has rejoined the PVR group as president, PVR Pictures. At his previous stint (2002-2006) at PVR Pictures and as one of the founder employees, Gianchandani facilitated acquisition of over 140 foreign language films from various independent majors. Now, he joins the company from Reliance BIG Pictures (2006?2010), where as COO he was responsible for the company?s theatrical distribution and licensing business. At PVR Pictures, which has a ?brand equity associated with quality?, having made an enormously successful film production debut in 2007 with Taare Zameen Par and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Gianchandani wants to focus on India and consolidate on PVR Pictures? strengths. This year he will oversee the production and distribution of films Aisha with Anil Kapoor Films Company, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se (Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone) with Ashutosh Gowariker Productions and Mad Madder Maddest with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions. Excerpts from an interview with FE:

You are back at PVR. What is your focus going to be?

Our main focus is India. We produce quite a few Hindi films through the year and have their global rights. We plan to distribute the films we produce in the overseas markets, starting with the key US and UK markets.

Last year was traumatic for the film industry; are things looking better this year?

There have been many learnings. Last year because of the strike we lost three months and films got bunched up together for release, causing mayhem in scheduling. In fact, elders in the industry got producers together to discuss release strategy and some films were released at least a week apart. Everyone understands that the business has changed dramatically. Just two-three years ago, there was too much liquidity, the competition between corporates to finance films was intense and prices were pushed up to artificial rates. Post-meltdown, the industry has realised that prices need to be correct for a film to succeed.

And the business is risky?

Yes, this is an emerging business. It?s a business of hits and misses, it?s a margins business and you have to keep costs down or else the entire economics goes out of control. There were many films that didn?t do well despite good production qualities, financial push and so forth. Another thing the industry has realised is that this is a business where you can?t compromise on content. You need to have a good story and it has to be told in a manner people are interested. You may have a big star cast and a big sum of money to do the film, but you need to get the story right. One size doesn?t fit all and the industry has to understand that. Stars can?t run a film alone. If your content is correct, the film will find the audience. Stars are as relevant as the storyline.

At PVR Pictures, what are you going to concentrate on?

We are a fairly established player. We have not done in-your-face commercial cinema. We have a brand equity associated with quality. We have a distribution system in place. The synergies are very apparent between motion pictures and exhibition. We intend to consolidate our presence in the distribution space. We want to produce/ distribute six-eight Hindi films, distribute eight-ten Hollywood films and also grow our regional distribution. In north India, we distribute Tamil and Telugu films. We want to grow this business.

So, we will see some growth in the film industry this year?

Compared to last year, this year looks better. Though there have been some misses, Hollywood has done exceptionally well. In fact, Inception caught everyone napping.

But is the Hindi film industry corrected enough on the content front?

A lot more has to be corrected in content. The number of films that make money has to go up. We have to consolidate our position.