By Rohit Vaid

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS): The Covid pandemic might have battered the cinema exhibition industry's core business but it has also accelerated diversification, PVR's Chief Executive Gautam Dutta said.

In a conversation with IANS, Dutta said the pandemic has given a push to diversify the business and fully utilise available resources.

"We have forayed into new segments such as packaged F&B (PVR popcorn) and now 'V-Pristine'. The pandemic gave us time and the necessity to plan for these new ventures," he said.

"There are other new initiatives as well that we plan to launch in the near future. These new products will cater to the growing demand for differentiated and specialised services like 'V-Pristine'."

Recently, PVR forayed into customised cleaning and disinfecting solutions for commercial and residential segments under its new business vertical 'V-Pristine'.

At present, 'V-Pristine' is available in Delhi-NCR with more than 1,000 residences and offices across 46 cities covered in the first phase of trials covering six months.

Besides, the company has tied-up with Reliance Industries' retail subsidiary for starting India's first ever open-air rooftop theatre -- Jio Drive-in -- at the premium shopping mall, Jio World Drive (JWD) in Mumbai.

The drive-in theatre will be operated by PVR and would have capacity for 290 cars and boasts of the biggest cinema screen in town.

Additionally, the company has collaborated with Esports company NODWIN Gaming to launch India's first "In-Cinema Esports" live tournaments.

On the company's core business, Dutta said that pent-up demand, along with new content, has drawn in moviegoers, thereby accelerating the recovery.

The sector, formally known as 'cinema exhibition industry', has been one of the hardest hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic, causing revenue and employment loss.

Till recently, cinemas and multiplexes in many states remained in the list of prohibited activities to curb the spread of the pandemic.

However, accelerated pace of vaccination as well as easing Covid restrictions and lower transmission rates have turned the tide for the sector.

Besides, new local, global and regional content have once again lured many moviegoers back from online streaming platforms to theatres.

"Rising vaccination levels, lower infection rate and release of big-ticket movies has brought back moviegoers."

"With lesser to no capacity restrictions, we believe that pre-pandemic levels will be achieved within the next few months."

However, he cautioned that the growth will be stalled if another Covid wave hits the country.

Furthermore, Dutta pointed out that festive season as well as healthy line-up of movie releases will surely boost the footfall levels at the company's properties.

"This year we have new content coming in from international, domestic and regional studios."

"Some markets in the north and in the South India region are close to reaching their pre-pandemic levels."

Currently, PVR is the largest film exhibition company in India.

It operates a cinema circuit comprising of 856 screens at 179 properties in 72 cities in India and Sri Lanka.