PVR experience @ Rs 40 for movie buffs in small towns

New Delhi, Sep 19 (UNI) Moviegoers in smaller towns will now get to see the first day first show of latest Bollywood films that too at cheaper rates.

PVR Cinemas, the company that spearheaded the multiplex culture in India, today announced the launch of ''The People's Cinema...PVR Talkies'' here, as part of its Rs 200 crore plan to expand in the tier II and III cities.

With an aim to resurrect the cinema experience in smaller towns the movie tickets have been priced between Rs 40 and Rs 60, much less than what is charged in PVR Cinemas in the bigger cities like Delhi, which alone counts for 30 screens, PVR Ltd CEO Ashish Shukla said.

PVR Talkies will kick-start with pilot projects in Aurangabad and Latur from next week of this month.

''Movie-going experience can be improved in the smaller towns.

The appetite to watch movies is there and that's where we see the growth potential,'' PVR Ltd CMD Ajay Bijli told reporters here.

With the digital technology in place, these no-frill theatres will work on the principle of digitised content being distributed to theatres through satellite or fiber, upload to a digital cinema server, which would serve it to a digital projector for screening and hence bridging gap between movie prints and number of screens, in the years to come at no additional distribution costs.

The digital theatres are also expected to impact the film industry significantly as it will enable wide releases of a movie in different distribution territories all across the country ensuring large scale consumer and industry benefits with proportionately reduced cost, incurred on the celluloid prints.

''It would also be extremely helpful in curbing piracy, widely prevalent in India in the absence of right technology,''Mr Shukla said.

PVR Talkies will have a seating capacity of 1,151 seats at the three screens in Aurangabad, and 1,148 seats at its Latur multiplex which also will have three screens.

In addition to the computerised tickets, the centrally air conditioned budget cinemas will have mutliple features like kids zone, reclining seats and dolby digital sound system.

PVR Talkies will also offer digitally enabled projection technology and Food Court ''KHANA PEENA'' at its 50 to 60 screens.

''With PVR Talkies, the people's cinema has arrived. It is my fervent hope that PVR Talkies will induce people to come back to the big screen and rediscover the true magic of the movies,'' Mr Bijli said.

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