PVR Superplex with 15 halls is going to change the way North India watches movies. Ajay Bijli, managing director and Sanjeev Bijli, joint MD give details about the advanced technology that the concept embodies, the soon to be rolled out movies on-demand and how it will boost regional cinema. Shrabasti Mallik reports
India is a nation in love with celluloid and everything involved with it. We may worship cricket but Bollywood shares the same pedestal in our lives. No weekend is complete without a trip to a movie theatre for us.
First there were single screens and then there were multiplexes. But now PVR, one of the biggest players in the industry, with over 500 screens across the country, has brought to North India the first of its kind PVR Superplex with 15 screens.
And with this, our movie watching experience is going to change — definitely for the better. The concept screams entertainment reloaded.
Think the best of technology, classiest of experience and an upgraded standards of watching a movie — it’s all here at logix City Centre Mall, Noida. From 4DX to IMAX and Dolby Atmos to a special auditorium for kids — Playhouse — the place has everything along with their popular Gold Class. And they have been divided strategically, too. The Superplex, with an approximate seating capacity of 1,544, includes three Gold Class screens, one IMAX screen, one 4DX screen, nine mainstream screens (two screens with Dolby Atmos) and one Playhouse.
Brothers Ajay (managing director, PVR) and Sanjeev Bijli (joint MD) have always believed in providing the best viewing experience. “We take the movie going experience very seriously and believe that we should do everything we can to incorporate the best. Be it in terms of sound, projection or technology,” Ajay pointed out.
According to him, the idea of a superplex is novel because it is a place where they could house all formats of experience.
Take the 4DX for example. The technology has been brought from a South Korean company called CJ. And the high end features are accurate to the last detail and very well coordinated with whatever is happening on the screen. “The 4DX experience is for all the five senses. You cannot ignore technology today, you need to embrace them,” said Sanjeev, to which Ajay added, “Moreover, you can create the format but the context needs to be there,” pointing out to the need for more feature films which can fit into this bill.
The Superplex is slated to be a game changer in many aspects. Sanjeev told us that the it will give a big boost to regional cinema, too. “We have always encouraged regional cinema. It is important to understand the area where we are exploring when it comes to regional cinema. In our research we found that Tamil films have a lot of takers in West Delhi and collected details pertaining to catchment areas. And Noida is slowly becoming a hub and we felt this was the best time and place,” he said.
Another interesting thing that an ardent movie lover can expect here is watching an old movie. “Here we will be screening movies that are a few months old so that an ardent movie lover does not miss out on it,” said Ajay and added that this set-up will benefit both the consumer and the filmmaker.
All these apart, in a few months, they will also roll out on-demand screening of films. “Along with our custom relationship management we have been able to understand what people would want. Soon we will start an on-demand viewing experience and launch it in a few months,” Sanjeev said.
For the time being PVR will concentrate on developing and evolving the concept of the Superplex in the country and has no plans to venture into the international market. “When you take the eye off the ball, you lose focus. We don’t want to do that. We are looking for ways to expand the idea within the country in tier two and tier three cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai,” explained Sanjeev who, however, did mention that they have plans to expand to Sri lanka.
They are optimistic that this will also bring a change in the trend of youngsters downloading movies at viewing them at the comfort of their home. “Children love to socialise and this is a place where you can come with both your parents and your friends,” Ajay pointed out. He did not forget to mention how reasonably priced the tickets are. “They start from as low as Rs150,” he smiled.
photos Pankaj Kumar