PVR INOX Limited is an Indianmultiplex chain. It was formed in 2023 as a result of the merger betweenPVR Cinemas andINOX Leisure.[4][5] PVR pioneered the multiplex revolution in India by establishing the firstmultiplex cinema in 1997 atVasant Vihar,New Delhi.[6] As of December 2024, PVR INOX operates 1,749 screens across 355 properties in 111 cities, including locations in India and Sri Lanka.[7][8]
PVR Cinemas has its origin as Priya Cinema inVasant Vihar,Delhi; the cinema was named after Priya Jaisinghani and was bought byAjay Bijli's father in 1978, who also owned a trucking business,Amritsar Transport Co. In 1988, Bijli took over cinema hall, which was revamped in 1990, and its success led to the founding of PVR Cinemas.[9][10]
The company started as a joint venture agreement between Priya Exhibitors Private Limited andVillage Roadshow of Australia in 1995 with a 60:40 ratio. It began its commercial operations in June 1997 as Priya Village Roadshow. The company was founded by Ajay Bijli, who is the chairman and managing director of PVR Cinemas. Ajay Bijli's brother Sanjeev Kumar Bijli is the Executive Director of PVR INOX Limited.[11] In 2003, ICICI Ventures invested₹40 crore in PVR when Village Roadshow decided to pull out of the partnership.[12] The first PVR Gold Screen was introduced in Forum Mall,Bengaluru.
In 2006, the shares of the company were listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).[13] PVR's first "Gold Screen" was launched inIndore in 2007.[14]
In 2012, PVR Cinemas partnered withIMAX to open its first IMAX theatre in Bengaluru.[17][18] In 2014, PVR Cinemas introduced the superplex format inNoida.[19] In 2016, PVR's 4DX became the second movie theater chain in India to launch4DX in the country afterCinépolis.[20] In 2022, PVR Cinemas introduced itsimmersive theater format called ICE inDelhi NCR.[21]
INOX Leisure orINOX Movies was an Indianmultiplex chain based inMumbai. The company was incorporated as a public limited company in November 1999.[26] It is a subsidiary ofINOX Group (Industrial Oxygen) of companies.[27] In 2002, the company commenced its operation by opening its first four-screen multiplex atPune and another four-screen multiplex atVadodara. In 2004, multiplexes were added inKolkata,Goa, andMumbai.
On 27 March 2022, INOX announced it would be merging with PVR.[32] On 12 January 2023, the Mumbai bench of theNational Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger of PVR and INOX.[33]
In February 2023, after the merger was completed, PVR was renamed PVR INOX. The merged entity became the fifth largest listed multiplex chain globally by screen count[32][34] and the largest in India.[35] All the new properties opened after the merger with Inox were branded as PVR Inox,[36] while the existing properties owned by PVR and Inox before the merger continued to carry PVR and Inox branding respectively.[37]
Cinemax India Ltd was an Indian cinema chain which owned 138 screens across 39 properties in India, includingAhmedabad,Bengaluru,Hyderabad,Kochi,Mumbai,Pune,Kolkata,Kanpur,Bhopal andNashik.[41] It was owned by the Kanakia group, before being acquired by Cine Hospitality Private Ltd, a subsidiary ofPVR Cinemas, in 2012.[42][43] The acquired properties were renamed as PVR Cinemas in a phased manner over the years.
SPI Cinemas, a multiplex chain based in Chennai, had its origins in the Royal Theatre, built in 1974 and acquired by the Kiran Reddy family in the 1980s. Royal Theatre later evolved into Sathyam Cinemas.[46][47] In August 2018, PVR Cinemas acquired SPI Cinemas for ₹850 crore and rebranded the properties as PVR.[48]
Luxe, a premium multiplex with 11 screens operating atPhoenix Marketcity, Chennai owned by Jazz Cinemas, was acquired by INOX in October 2022,[49][50] which in turn merged with PVR in 2023.[51]
PVR INOX Pictures is thefilm distribution arm of PVR Inox. It was earlier named PVR Pictures and rebranded as PVR Inox Pictures in 2023 after the merger of PVR Cinemas and Inox Leisure.[52]
In October 2021, PVR announced a partnership with the filmRRR as part of which, PVR rebranded itself asPVRRR across the multiplex chain's properties in over 70 cities for a few months following the film's release on 25 March 2022.[53] As part of the promotions, they also launched an exclusive NFT (non-fungible token) collection for the film.[54]
PVR expanded its partnership agreement with laser cinema company Cinionic to power all of its screens with Barco Series 4 4K laser projection.[55]
^"Terms of Use". PVR INOX.Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved23 March 2024.PVR INOX LIMITED Block A, 4th Floor, Building No.9A, DLF Cyber City-Phase III, Gurgaon, Haryana, 122002
^"About Us".pvrcinemas.com.Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved4 September 2023.
^"PVR INOX Ltd".Reuters.Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved23 April 2024.
^Ambwani, Meenakshi Verma (21 July 2014)."PVR Superplex, its different".@businessline.Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved26 December 2021.