In the first half of 2024, multiplex giant PVR Inox marketed about 80 movie re-releases. Following the end of the second quarter, wherein re-releases contributed to 6% of the admissions, PVR Inox told FE that they expect to close the year with 140-150 re-releases.
Speaking on Friday, post the launch of PVR Inox’s AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot — Movie Jockey (MJ), the company’s executive director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli said, “Re-releases were born out of necessity, but have now become a staple and established property for us in the past few months. We now have a dedicated team stationed in Mumbai that is looking at films that can be re-released.”
“This is a pipeline of content that seems to be doing well. Kal Ho Naa Ho was re-released last week. This Friday, Karan Arjun is out again. We are now bundling older films in curated show formats and actively talking to producers for re-releases,” he added.
PVR Inox’s management had earlier told FE that since the ‘film-hire charges’ for re-releases are lower, it leads to a higher gross margin, making the model profitable.
With potential mega-grosser Pushpa 2 releasing on December 5, Bijli said the film is “poised for a phenomenal opening”.
PVR Inox is also looking at a fresh pipeline of content that will be going on the floor soon. Before this year ends, the other big releases movie halls are excited about are Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, Baby John, and English language films like Heretic and Babygirl, among others.
On the business front, Bijli said the company is still following its two-pronged strategy of balancing between premium and mass market cinemas. “This year, so far, we have opened 71 screens, about half of which have been in metros and the other half in smaller cities,” he said, adding that the company is looking to add around 100 screens next year with an investment of `200 crore.
The multiplex giant on Friday launched an AI tool available on WhatsApp that consumers can use to discover what movies are playing at cinemas, book tickets, food and beverages, and pay online.
“Online ticket sales have been accounting for 65-75% of our sales for the past many years. As WhatsApp, too, has been our primary mode of communication for quite a while now, we wanted to make these services as convenient, seamless, and frictionless as possible,” Bijli said.
Bijli also clarified that this chatbot is an additional platform to increase traction as there will still be people who prefer buying their tickets at the box office or on apps like BookMyShow. “We have worked with Meta to ensure that our AI tech doesn’t end up spamming consumers’ inbox. It’ll be used for personalised and targeted communication, with any superfluity being cut out. We want it to be the consumer’s prerogative when they want to use this tool. However, it will analyse your data to understand your preferences and recommend you movies from time to time,” he added.
The chatbot will be available 24/7 in multiple languages with detailed information on whether a particular screen is wheelchair-friendly, if subtitles are available, if the seating is accessible, etc.
Ravi Garg, director of business messaging, Meta India, said, at the launch, “With its powerful AI-driven features and support for multiple languages, the chatbot will demonstrate how conversational experiences on WhatsApp can simplify the journey for users across India, enabling them to seamlessly book tickets and do much more.”
The chatbot MJ has been launched in partnership with Razorpay for secure payments and Jio Haptik.
