‘There is an audience for every kind of film’: Nayana Bijli talks PVR-INOX film selection, censorship & upcoming releases

Nayana Bijli, director of PVR-INOX’s distribution wing, tells Pranati A S that the last four months were driven by regional and foreign language content.

PVR-INOX Pictures, the distribution wing of the multiplex chain distributed about 78 films in this financial year, so far, including the recently released ‘Eternity’, ‘Nuremberg’ and ‘One Battle After Another’. They are all set to release Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Christmas Karma’ British Christmas musical comedy next week.

Nayana Bijli, director of PVR-INOX Pictures talks to Showtime about how they pick movies for distribution in India.

Excerpts:

How is the cinema market in India today? 

We are seeing a lot of films, particularly global productions, that are resonating with Indian audiences. Even at a local level, mid-budget and non-star films are doing well. Films like ‘Saiyaara’ and ‘Mahavatar Narasimha’, which were not considered to be big tentpole films contributed to footfalls. The success of movies like ‘Mahavatar Narasimha’ showed that there is an appetite for spiritual and religious films too.

This quarter has also been largely driven by regional and foreign language content. Some of the niche titles are finding niche audiences — ‘Nuremberg’ for example. One of the biggest insights from this year is that there is an audience for every kind of film.

How do you pick movies to distribute in India? 

We look at commercial appeal, while ensuring that the film has a strong cast that Indian audiences are familiar with. Secondly, we look at who the partner is. We work with entertainment companies like A24, Lions Gate, FilmNation, Black Bear — we have released quite a few of their films in India. These are some key Hollywood partners we work with because their films have worked in India. We also try to ensure that the films we buy resonate with Indian audiences — romantic comedies like ‘Eternity’, which is playing right now. We also aim to bring films that have Indian themes like Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Christmas Karma’ — which is about family, immigration and identity. Even action films work well here. And then finally we give importance to movies with commercial actors — at the beginning of next year we are releasing Timothée Chalamet's ‘Marty Supreme’. 

PVR in the past brought world cinema, like Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Salesman’ in 2017. People were excited about it. But we have not seen such films here of late… 

We attend all the markets at Berlin and Cannes, etc. We try to acquire films that we think will have a strong resonance in India provided it makes commercial sense and comes from a key partner. Sometimes, the deal does not work out and we miss out on a film. Other times, it is probably not available for India, or the filmmaker does not want to release it here. 

What is your opinion on the severe censorship of movies in India today? 

I think there definitely has been a change in censorship, at least from when I was a teenager. In terms of just consumption, we have to understand that the Indian consumer has access to a lot — OTT is not censored at all, and there are different methods of consumption. We have to consider that the theatre is a public space and the films have to align with the type of audience that's coming in. Censorship has definitely changed keeping in mind the changing trends in how films are consumed. We consume all sorts of content. That is being reflected in the changes.