Alternate entertainment has arrived on the Indian big screen, thanks to the PVR 2.0 live initiative. A report by Sangeeta Yadav
From screening a tribute documentary on Pancham (RD Burman) to an art documentary on Michelangelo, to an exhibition film on leonardo, to BBC’s award-winning marine life documentary series Blue Planet II, cinephiles have had access to great content this season. They are now in for a treat with PVR 2.0 live, an initiative to screen a mix of contemporary concert films, music, sports documentaries, museum exhibitions, biographies and special premieres.
Catering to a niche audience, a sports documentary titled Cristiano Ronaldo-The World At His Feet directed by Tara Pirnia recently premiered under this initiative. The film follows the life of the footballer from his humble beginnings in his hometown in Portugal to the breakthrough with the English club, Manchester United and later his career in Spain at Real Madrid.
To promote entertainment beyond movies, PVR launched PVR live in 2014 that saw the special screening of ballet show Cinderella & Swan lake. “With the inception of PVR live-Entertainment Beyond Movies, the aim was to keep the movie-lovers hooked with an interesting onscreen showcase of ballets, theatre, broadway plays, and much more. We got really good occupancy levels for international art films and concert films. However, captured–Iive theatre/ Broadway, ballet and musicals had lower appeal among our audiences due to limited local following for these genres,” Dharmesh Datta, VP, head, alternate content and marketing, PVR ltd, says.
PVR live 2.0 was kicked-off in March, 2018 with the special screenings of Pancham Unmixed: Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai, a tribute documentary directed by Brahmanand S Siingh honoring RD Burman.
Winner of two National Awards for best historical compilation film and best biographical, the documentary takes an incisive look into the legendary composer’s reflective artistry and buoyant-but-also-lonely inner being, featuring a host of close friends, colleagues and admirers.
Not only this, it has opened up a new world where ocean stories find a space to unfold. The theatre release of the first two episodes of BBC’s popular marine life documentary series — Blue Planet II: One Ocean and The Deep narrated by David Attenborough that features music by Hans Zimmer are a case in point. The seven-episode series was filmed over four years and in more than a hundred countries. The film unravels some of the most breathtaking stories of life beneath the waves — from the icy polar seas to the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean.
“The objective is to offer our patrons the opportunity to watch compelling cinema content beyond mainstream studio content. The initiative has been envisioned on the basis of the insights captured from the feedback of our patrons during PVR live. Therefore, this time around, the alternative cinema content has been curated keeping audiences sensibilities and preferences in mind— a healthy mix of International and local genres and overall more contemporary flavour,” Datta says.
Under the initiative, leonardo also premiered which was a remarkable event at london’s National Gallery where they assembled the largest ever collection of leonardo’s surviving paintings for a unique exhibition — leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan.
“There are plans afoot of making content more appealing to the Indian market and tap the non-PVR audience. This content will be a differentiator for our brand and help us tap new audiences,” Datta tells you.
Apart from offering a world away from traditional cinema model, the screen may also screen niche Hollywood titles which don’t get a wide theatrical release in India, premiered selectively over weekends.
Amidst the starry night, PVR also inaugurated the Delhi edition of Mumbai International Film Festival (MAMI) recently which was attended by Sanjeev Bijli, Ajay Bijli, Zoya Akhtar, Anupama Chopra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Siddharth Roy Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap. The year-round programme will be screening movies, documentary and short films that never got released in India including the screening of uncensored movies once a month. The films will have two screenings per month at PVR ECX, The Chanakya or PVR Icon, Promenade. A three-day festival will be organised in March or April 2019, and will host special screenings, masterclass especially and workshops every week.
Sit back and experience the world of alternate entertainment that is beyond cinema.