PSTL acquires 36 theatres in AP

Hyderabad, May 7 (UNI) Theatre chain company Pyramid Saimira Theatre Limited (PSTL) today announced the addition of 36 theatres in Andhra Pradesh in the West Godavari and Nizam areas, adding 23 000 seats in the state.

PSTL has acquired the distribution rights for the mega Rajnikanth movie, S I V A J I for Nizam Area (as known in film trade) and expects more than Rs 12 crore as revenue in the Nizam area alone, through the exhibition and distribution of Sivaji.

Speaking on the occasion, PSTL Chairman V Natarajan said PSTL has already digitised more than ten theatres and will digitise all the theatres in its nework.

Mr Natarajan said, ''We plan to invest Rs 100 crore in Andhra Pradesh for infrastructure improvement and digitisation, amongst other developmental activities, in the current fiscal year.'' PSTL Managing Director P S Saminathan said the company expects to capture around 40 per cent market share in Andhra Pradesh before Diwali and increase it up to 70 per cent, with 2.1 lakh seats by March 2008.

The company has planned to construct over 25 multiplexes in Andhra Pradesh for which theatre and land identification was in progress. It plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore on 105 multiplexes in the four Southern states over the next 18 months. It was also planning to purchase close to 100 single screen theatres in the next two years in the state.

As part of its content fund and production effort, PSTL will produce 12 Telugu films this year, through their subsidiary.

It planned to purchase around 20 films this fiscal year in the state, for which, they were already in touch with top producers of the Industry.

UNI