How India's biggest multiplex is dealing with its weekday blues

In October, PVR INOX launched 'Passport', a monthly subscription pass that would allow cinemagoers to watch 10 movies every month for ₹699. The service is available only on weekdays (Monday to Friday).

In an interaction with CNBC-TV18, PVR INOX MD Ajay Bijli said, that the PVR Passport was introduced as a solution for occupancy problems during weekdays.

"Monday to Thursday was an issue for us because people obviously have more discretionary time during the weekend. So we felt that from Monday to Thursday, we needed to come up with a solution that basically takes care of our occupancy levels. So the Passport was focused on that. It was also focused on people who have time during the week but are a little sensitive to how much they want to pay, and it worked out well."

Bijli stressed that the PVR Passport was just the first version, and a second version will be launched soon. He said that the service will also be launched in Southern India.

Earlier this month, Reliance Industries inaugurated the Jio World Plaza in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) area, what the company calls "an immersive retail destination for top-end, global standard shopping and entertainment experiences in India".

"We already have Maison PVR, which is like the house of PVR, where all the brands and different experiences—the living room, library hall, loft, and drive-in—have all come under one roof," Bijli said.

In 2021, PVR launched PVR Maison ahead of the reopening of cinemas in Maharashtra after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bijli also listed the other flagship offerings that the company offers at the Jio World Plaza.

"We have the Gatsby Bar here after the famous movie The Great Gatsby... people can have a drink or eat before or after the movie. The same menu that is here can also be served in Insignia. We have two luxury screens of Insignia here, and then we've got obviously the famous IMAX. Then we have got very high-quality three premium screens as well in another area that we have called Galleria. So with Gatsby’s, Insignia, Galeria, and IMAX, everything is like a premium facility, and just calling it the flagship property for the INOX brand."

However, Bijli stated that the focus is not only on luxury.

"It is a very disparate market; you have a consumer at every price point, and people's tastes and preferences are very varied," Bijli said while adding that 50% of the market is from the big cities, and the other 50% is from tier 2 and tier 3 cities.