New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) With major Bollywood studios announcing the release dates of their films, Ajay Bijli, Chairman and MD of PVR Limited, says he is confident that the exhibition sector will once again find its feet and make a full recovery.

Big-ticket Bollywood films are set to bow in theatres as their makers last week announced new release dates after the Maharashtra government allowed cinema halls to operate from October 22.

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Among the major titles that are set for release are Akshay Kumar's "Sooryavanshi", "Prithviraj" and "Bachchan Pandey", Ranveer Singh's "83", Aamir Khan-headlined "Laal Singh Chaddha" and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer "Shamshera".

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"We welcome the Maharashtra government's decision. I'm very confident about the human nature of people to go out and watch movies on the big screen.

"It's very much a part of our fabric. It is something that we've been doing for a long time. Two years is a long time but I don't see the habit of watching brilliant movies on the big screen going away," Bijli told PTI.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of PVR Saket, the multiplex chain's legacy property that had been closed for two years as it underwent a makeover.

On the possibility of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bijli expressed hope that it will not be as serious as the second wave that hit India in April and led to the closure of cinema halls across the country for a second time since the pandemic began.

"Let's all hope for the sake of humanity, not just for PVR or anybody, that there is no third wave or if there is a third wave, we hope that it is benign and not as dangerous as the second wave.

"But we dealt with a crisis twice and God forbid, if there's anything else, we will learn to deal with that as well," he added.

Bijli said the PVR is focused on expanding its footprint in India as he believes there is a lot of "headroom" for growth in the country.

"We are already in about 72 cities and India still has a lot of headroom for growth. So the strategy is to be present in every city at a different price point where people are going to be consuming movies.

"The same goes for the existing cities as there is a space to grow even there because India still continues to remain a very under-screen country as compared to China and the US. So PVR will continue to grow qualitatively and quantitatively."

Asked what helped the company survive the two years of the coronavirus pandemic, Bijli said they slashed their costs and shored up liquidity.

"We had to reduce and control the cost, which is very important, whether it was manpower costs or the rental costs. We reduced two-third of our costs during the pandemic. Secondly, we tried to shore up liquidity.

"Other than that, as I said, we kept our hopes alive. We kept our chin up and we believed in the business. We believed in the Indian market. We believe in the film fraternity, we believe in the human nature to go out and entertain ourselves," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)