A lot was expected from the Christmas 2023 releases – the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dunki and Prabhas-starrer Salaar. While both put up decent numbers, a lot more was expected from them. Nevertheless, the cinema exhibitors are not complaining, especially PVR Inox. It has come to light that for the largest multiplex chain, December 2023 turned out to be the best year ever in the post-Covid era.
As per an article in The Economic Times dated February 1, Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive Director, PVR Inox Limited, has been quoted saying that the months of October and November were muted due to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and lesser supply of films. But they had the best month ever in December once the World Cup fever ended in the second half of November.
Sanjeev Bijli further said that Salman Khan’s Diwali release Tiger 3, Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal, which released on December 1, Dunki and Salaar were the highest-grossing films in the third quarter. He also added, “Even mid-budget films like Sam Bahadur and 12th Fail did very well and contributed to the overall box office.”
As compared to the quarter last year, PVR Inox’s quarter jumped more than Rs. 11 times from Rs. 3.60 crores to Rs. 41.20 crores. As per The Economic Times article, this was mainly possible due to a sharp reduction in corporate tax. The corporate tax fell 78.50% - from Rs. 66.20 crores to Rs. 14.20 crores. The revenue grew from 6.40% to Rs. 1,569 crores and expenses increased from 7.8% to Rs. 1,343 crores.
The story further revealed that as per the multiplex chain, the gross box office collections grew by 12% from Rs. 883 crores to Rs. 987.20 crores. In the third quarter of the previous financial year, there were 352 releases while in the current financial year’s Q3, the number of releases was just 209. It is said that the World Cup led to many makers avoiding this period.
PVR Inox also made it clear that the results are not entirely comparable as both the multiplex chains were separate entities in 2022 and merged recently, on February 6, 2023.
Lastly, the article informed readers that between April to December 2023, PVR opened 97 screens and shut down 62 screens. The latter happened because "(those) screens were opened 25 years ago which are in malls that have reached the end of their life cycles," said Sanjeev Kumar Bijli. Between January and March 2024, they plan to open 72 screens, of which 4 are already operational. One of the most awaited ones is the IMAX screen at Eros Cinema, Churchgate, Mumbai.
