International Journal of Grid and Distributed Computing Vol. 13, No. 1s, (2020), pp. 298-308 Indian Multiplex Market: The Growth of Inox Leisure. Mr. Monojit Dutta1, Ms. Sayani Sen2 1Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce and Management, St Xavier’s University Kolkata, India Email id: [email protected] 2Independent Researcher, Kolkata, India, Email id: [email protected] Abstract: Cinemas have always been an integral part of people’s life. As our society has progressed so has the cinema industry. Similarly, the medium of watching movies has also change with the introduction of new technologies. During the 70s and the 80s, there were mainly single screen movie theatres where people had to stand in long queue to buy tickets, whereas, now there are movie multiplexes, where it is no longer necessary to stand in queue to get a ticket, it can be done easily from the comforts of home through online tickets booking apps. In this paper, we have discussed about the different multiplexes in the Indian market, mainly emphasizing on the two main players of this industry i.e. PVR Ltd and INOX Leisure Limited. The paper mainly aims at showing how INOX inspite of not being in the market for as long as PVR is still giving PVR a tough competition on various aspects. It was rightly found that PVR Ltd holds the maximum share in the market but the growth of Inox Leisure Ltd is impeccable and in certain area; Inox outperforms PVR in terms of return on share, ticket prices and revenue. Keywords: Cinema, Inox Leisure, Multiplex, PVR Ltd. INTRODUCTION India is a country of cinemas. It produces almost more than 2000 movies each year in various languages. Indian cinema is a global enterprise. However, currently it is going through an evolution where the movie industry is shifting from the single screen movie theatres to multiplex. Research has shown that from the 1970s cinemas were no longer attracting proper audience. The darkness of the movie theatres were becoming the perfect place for the gangs of young people for continuing there shady activities. Hence the movie halls were not seeing much of families or women as audience who are considered as a crucial part for maintaining cinema’s social legitimacy. During the 1980s the general middle class people were not at all seen in the theatres they preferred only those halls which were within their colonies. This downshifting trend of the movie industry which continued for almost two decades had led to the appearance of multiplex, which could provide a suitable environment for theatrical experience of the middle class people. The arrival of multiplex changed the way of watching movies. Now it has better sound, picture quality, seating arrangement, availability of good snacks and beverages, also the convenience of shopping in case of shopping mall multiplexes. Blooming of multiplex started during the 1990s in India. PVR was the first multiplex chain of India. Currently cinema chains like INOX, Carnival Cinemas, PVR, SPI Cinemas, Cinepolis and Big Cinemas are operating across the country. Mayajaal in Chennai is the largest multiplex in India with 16 screen megaplex and PVR is the largest multiplex chain in India. PVR CINEMAS PVR Ltd. was incorporated on 26th April 1995. It was a partnership between Priya Exhibitors Ltd. which was a local family-run exhibition concern and Village Roadshow Ltd. which was a multinational concern based in Australia. The company launched its first movie multiplex in the Saket district of New Delhi in 1997. For their first site which was called the PVR Anupam, they remodeled a large old theatre into a multi-screen site and built it as per the international standards of a multiplex facility. They started the computerized box office operations by selling computerized tickets. In 2002 Village Roadshow Ltd. made a disinvestment and sold their entire shareholding to Priya Exhibitors Ltd. So, the company changed their name from Priya Village Roadshow Ltd. to PVR Ltd. with effect from 28th June 2002. In March 2003 ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Ltd. made an investment of 380 million rupees in the company and acquired 38.45% stake by way of ISSN: 2005-4262 IJGDC 298 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Grid and Distributed Computing Vol. 13, No. 1s, (2020), pp. 298-308 purchasing equity shares. In 2005 PVR Pictures Ltd. became a 100% subsidiary of the company and during the same year they made an IPO of 7700000 equity shares comprising a fresh issue of 5700000 equity shares by the company and an offer of sale for 2000000 equity shares by the Western India Trustee and Executor Company Ltd. On 4th January 2006 the company’s shares were listed on NSE and BSE. Not only movies PVR is also involved in setting up and running of bowling alleys, karaoke centres, ice skating rings and managing and operating restaurants, pubs, coffee shops etc. across India by setting up joint ventures with other companies. As on 31st March 2018 the company has three subsidiaries – PVR Pictures Ltd., PVR Lanka Ltd. and Zea Maize Private Limited. As of now PVR Ltd. is the largest and premium multiplex cinema exhibition company engaged in the business of movie exhibition, distribution and production which earns revenue from in-house advertisement, sale of food and beverage, gaming and restaurant business. INOX Leisure Ltd. INOX Leisure Ltd. was first incorporated as a public limited company in November 1999. It is a subsidiary of Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd. The company is diversified across industrial gases, engineering plastics, chemicals, renewable energy and the entertainment sector. The company is engaged in operating and managing of multiplexes and movie theatres across India. In 2002 the company commenced their operation by opening their first four screen multiplex at Pune and another four screen multiplex at Vadodara during the same year. in 2004 they commenced their operation in Kolkata, Goa and Mumbai. Gradually they also started operating in various other places of India like Bangalore, Jaipur, Indore, Darjeeling, Kota, Lucknow etc. over the period of years. At present INOX Leisure Ltd. is the second largest multiplex chain of India with 147 multiplexes and 626 screens in 68 cities of the country as of March 2020. INOX properties are known for their uniqueness with their own distinct architecture and aesthetics. Currently it is the only multiples operator with such a diverse PAN India presence. Carnival Cinemas Carnival Cinemas is under the parent company Carnival Group which was founded by Dr. Shrikant Bhasi in 2010. Carnival Films Pvt. Ltd. operates this cinema chain. They first started operating within the southern states of India. They launched their first movie screen in Kerala. Gradually they have expanded their business and now they operate in various states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh along with some other southern states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc. Currently they have approximately 470 cinema screens across pan India. In 2016, Carnival Cinemas Ltd. acquired Big Cinemas which was under Reliance MediaWorks Ltd. led by Anil Ambani. Carnival has already established itself in movie production, exhibition and distribution along with food courts, events, IT parks etc. Cinepolis India Cinepolis was founded in Mexico in 1971 and Cinepolis India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cinepolis. Cinepolis India launched its first movie screen in Amritsar in 2009. It is the first international movie exhibitor of India. In 2014, they acquired Fun Cinemas, which was owned by Shubhash Chandra’s Essel Group. Currently the company has approximately 383 movie screens across pan India which operates under the brand names of Cinepolis, Cinepolis VIP and Fun Cinemas. ISSN: 2005-4262 IJGDC 299 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Grid and Distributed Computing Vol. 13, No. 1s, (2020), pp. 298-308 NUMBER OF CINEMA SCREENS Cinepolis India 383 Carnival Cinemas 470 INOX Leisure 612 PVR Cinemas 846 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Source: Annual Report Graph 1: Number of movie screens of major multiplex players across India till March 2020 REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Withey (1971) in this paper has stated that Asian theatre has never gotten much attention from scholarly point of view. Though some of the most talented people of this industry has come up from the Asian theatres, even the West has also adopted many of its innovative production techniques, make up styles and gestures, Asian theatre was neglected. The paper has given special emphasis on the works of the Indians in the field of classical drama and theatre. It has also talked about different forms of drama and folk theatre. Richmond (1973)in his paper has focused on how theater plays a political role in India. It has depicted that while theatre was used as a mode to reach the wider audience during the ancient period to spread the teachings of religions, gradually that purposehas evolved. During the pre-independence period many dramas were staged only with the purpose of making people aware of how the British were misusing their power. Over the period of time theatre has become a weapon to deal with the social evils. Many a times in history many political parties have used theatre to deliver their message to the public. Maejima et.al (2008) in their paper has discussed about a very new concept i.e. the Future Cast System. This system allows the visitors to be present as a cast member in a pre-recorded movie along with its all other cast members. This is done with the help of 3G technologies. This system was first exhibited at the 2005 World Exposition held at Mitsui – Toshiba pavilion in Aichi Japan. Thakur(2013) in this paper focuses on how theatre helps in developing communication.