PVR Cinemas Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Bijli spoke about popcorn prices in the multiplex.
People love to watch movie with their families in a cinema hall. But in recent years, it has become an expensive affair as prices of movie tickets and snacks have skyrocketed, especially over the weekend. One of the popular snack enjoyed by almost every moviegoer is popcorn. It is in fact synonymous with watching movie. But that too is slowly becoming out of common man's reach as the price is going up every few weeks. This has invited a lot of criticism.
PVR Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Bijli has spoken about the issue, admitting in a recent interaction with Economic Times that consumers can't be blamed for speaking against the high prices of snacks in movie theatres.
Mr Bijli, however, said that there will be no change in the prices of food and beverages (F&B) as India is still in a "transition phase from single screens to multiplexes". He said in order to cover operational costs, the snacks at multiplex will be sold at higher prices.
The PVR Chairman further told ET that the F&B business is now worth Rs 1,500 crore in the country.
Mr Bijli said since multiplexes have more screens, the costs rises "4 to 6 times" because of the requirement of multiple projection rooms and sound systems. He added that air conditioning requirement has also increased as the foyers too are full AC.
Earlier this year, country's two major multiplex chains - PVR and Inox - announced their merger, promising it to be a game changer for the movie going audience with the combined entity aiming to have 1,500 screens eventually.
Coupled with aggressively priced tickets for consumers and an enhanced movie watching experience, they aim to recapture the market they had ceded to over the top (OTT) players in the last two years.
Mr Bijli is the Managing Director of the combined entity (to be called PVR Inox Limited).